


Daughter of Darkness

by PrincessCipher



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Multiple Endings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2018-07-29 20:31:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 48,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7698403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessCipher/pseuds/PrincessCipher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a child, you lived happily with your grandfather in the Slender woods, but your life would soon be full of sadness. Both of your guardians die, leaving you to be adopted. The worst part is that you have to leave your childhood friends behind.</p>
<p>Years later, what happens when one of them accidentally crosses your path?</p>
<p>This story will have endings for each character voted for!<br/>Which is all of them... so... uh... they'll all be up eventually!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Goodbye Home

**Author's Note:**

> (A/N: I'm new to writing Reader stories, so please let me know if I've done anything wrong so that I can fix it later. Creepypastas are something that has been interesting me a lot lately. Now this particular story,if people like it, is going to have a few chapters and several endings. For every character, I can make an ending.
> 
> All of the characters have been voted for (courtesy of my Wattpad account), so here's all the possible characters.
> 
> ~ Forest Pastas
> 
> ~BEN Drowned
> 
> ~Jeff the Killer
> 
> ~Eyeless Jack
> 
> ~Laughing Jack
> 
> ~Masky
> 
> ~Hoodie
> 
> ~Masky and Hoodie (because isn't two better than one :3 )
> 
> ~Ticci Toby
> 
> ~Slenderman (don't worry, I've found a way to make it not weird)
> 
> ~Splendorman
> 
> ~Offenderman
> 
> ~Trenderman
> 
> ~ Non Forest Pastas
> 
> ~Jane the Killer
> 
> ~Clockwork
> 
> ~Candy Pop
> 
> ~Puppeteer
> 
> ~Bloody Painter
> 
> If anyone shows interest in any of those (and maybe some others, if you guys really want), I'll add their ending to the list of endings. Each character will have their own final chapter with the reader. I can also do some different combinations with them. I'm fairly new to the Creepypasta fandom, so I apologize if I don't know someone you've recommended.
> 
> I should also mention that there is a possible trigger warning. The Reader suffers from severe depression as a result of what she's been through, so she has cut herself.
> 
> On that note, I'll leave a key for those new to Reader stories below.Please let me know if you want more or if there is anything I can improve upon!
> 
> This story is being copied from my Wattpad, so my apologies for any mishaps in the copying. Let me know if you catch any mistakes, or feel free to check me out over there! Also, I want to apologize for formatting things... This is my first time posting on Archive, so I haven't gotten used to how it works quite yet.
> 
> ~Cipher)
> 
> Key:
> 
> (y/n) - Your Name
> 
> (l/n) - Last Name
> 
> (h/c) - Hair Color
> 
> (e/c) - Eye Color
> 
> (f/c) - Favorite Color

_Your POV_

_You were running through the woods as fast as your tiny six year old legs could carry you, which wasn't much compared to those chasing you.Your (h/c) hair got into your face and covered your terrified (e/c)orbs from the sight before you. Oddly calm for the situation, you suddenly wished you'd brought a headband or something to keep your hair back. Hazarding a glance behind you, you noticed BEN Drowned keeping up a surprisingly good pace considering he was usually playing video games if he wasn't killing. Just behind him was Jeff the Killer, his smile wider than usual. He was really enjoying chasing you. As you turned your gaze forward once more, a figure wrapped their arms around you and lifted you off the ground. If the scent of blood coming from his breath was any indication, you'd just been captured by the third person chasing you, Eyeless Jack._

_"Did you really think you could escape us?" EJ asked, the smirk clear in his voice. He held you tight despite how much you struggled. "Now how about you hand that little book over? No one has to get hurt."_

_BEN caught up at this point, breathing heavily as he leaned up against a tree. "Finally caught you," he gasped out, leaning his head back against the tree. "Jeez. How the hell can you run so fast and not trip over the tree roots or something?"_

_"Practice makes perfect," Jeff ground out, leaning against a different tree._

_You fell to the ground as EJ released you, grabbing the sketchbook you had been holding in your left hand while you were still confused. Both of your (e/c) orbs widened in horror. "Give that back," you called out, standing up so you could try and grab it back._

_EJ just held it over your head. Being stuck in his young adult body made it so that he was taller than you. You could practically feel his amusement radiating off of him as he kept lifting the sketchbook higher so that you couldn't reach it even if you jumped. "Jeff!"EJ called out. "Catch!"_

_Your heart twinged at seeing your precious sketchbook being tossed through the air. A few loose papers fell out, falling to the forest floor. Suddenly, a familiar black tentacle shot forward and grabbed the sketchbook, more coming out to grab the falling papers. Once your book and papers were safe, another tentacle wrapped around your waist and carefully lifted you onto its owner's shoulders. From your new perch, you noticed Hoodie and Masky giving you thumbs-ups from either side of you. The three who had been chasing you looked downright terrified._

_"Dad!" you called, grinning wildly._

_Slenderman nodded slightly, leaning to the side so he could 'look' you in the face. [Are you alright, child?] he asked in your mind. When you nodded an affirmative, the man turned back to the other three. [You should know better!] he yelled, causing them to cringe. [She is a mortal! (y/n) could get hurt by trying to outrun you three!]_

_Perhaps we should rewind a little._

_You see, your name is (y/n) (l/n). You lived in the woods with your grandfather, Neil (l/n). Your mom, Clara, had gone a little insane when you were born, and, since no one knew where your dad was, your grandfather took you in. You lived just within the woods pretty happily for about five years. It was on your fifth birthday that you learned the truth. Apparently, the entirety of the woods belonged to your grandfather. He had built a huge mansion in the center with his father and grandfather. When the mansion was finished, he gave it to Slenderman so that he would have a safe place to live. As time went on, other Creepypastas moved in. You met them by accident when they wandered into the lake area to go swimming. You had been trying to sketch the lake and the surrounding trees when they showed up. Growing up with your grandfather telling you that different was good, you weren't the slightest bit concerned when they showed up, and, since you were in a tree, they didn't notice you right away. When they did notice you, it was Slenderman who pointed out that you lived in those woods just like them. From that moment on, you all became fast friends._

_Slenderman wasn't really your dad, but he seemed happy by the title and, since you didn't actually have one, you were pretty happy, too. You ended up becoming the closest with Masky and Hoodie first, since Slenderman gave them the job of making sure the others didn't kill you when you were all hanging out. The first and only one to ever make a move to kill you was Jeff the Killer, but you had pushed him into the lake before Masky or Hoodie could even step in. He had gotten a pretty good laugh - as did you - and he promised not to kill you from then on. Didn't mean he didn't threaten and chase you, though. The next person you became friends with was BEN Drowned. You never got to play video games or anything since you were off the grid with your grandfather, and BEN was more than happy to show you all of his favorites. A lot of your time was spent with BEN and a few of the others in his room, playing on one of his many systems. The next two you became friends with were the 'Jacks' as you liked to call them when they were together, which was fairly rare. You had fallen from a tree you had been drawing in, and Slenderman was out. With no other real option, Masky ran to get Eyeless Jack. He was an expert when it came to sewing up wounds, so he had no problem stitching and bandaging the gash on your arm. The only problem was that you were five and wouldn't stop crying. While EJ, Masky, and Hoodie tried to make you feel better, Laughing Jack had emerged from the mansion to see what all the fuss was about. He ran back in before coming out moments later with a stuffed animal and some candy. You laughed and smiled so much that day that your face and stomach hurt._

_Fast forward nearly two years and we come to your current situation. You had been heading over to the mansion to hang out with the others. When you came to the edge of the clearing, you noticed that EJ, Jeff, and BEN were rough housing while Masky and Hoodie were chatting on the back porch. With a flash of inspiration, you sat down and started drawing. It wasn't until eight pages later that you heard a voice directed at you._

_"Oh, hey, (y/n)," EJ said, walking up._

_You had tensed up in fear, slamming the sketchbook shut._

_"You must have been drawing for a while, huh?" BEN said, moving closer._

_"Can we see?" Jeff asked, his grin widening._

_Giving the slightly worried looking Masky and Hoodie a terrified glance, you stood and bolted through the forest. You'd lived there all your life, so dodging roots and things was no real problem._

_And that brings us back to the current time._

_[What if she had gotten hurt?] Slenderman continued scolding, towering above the three who had been chasing you. [She is not immortal like you, nor does she heal as fast as you. Think!]_

_"Yes, Slenderman," they groaned, lowering their head to avoid having to look at him._

_With a sigh, the faceless man lowered you back to the ground and knelt before you so he was closer to your eye level. [Are you truly alright?]_

_You nodded quickly, grinning. You looked around him to smile at Hoodie and Masky. "Thanks for getting dad."_

_Hoodie lifted his mask so that you could see his grin and the wink he gave you. "W-we wouldn't l-let them g-get you," he stuttered out._

_Masky looked a lot more relaxed now that you were back upon solid ground and clearly not injured. "Shall we go back to the mansion? I believe you wanted to play Monopoly?"_

_"Yay! Monopoly!" You hugged your sketchbook to your chest as you started to skip towards the mansion. Life was perfect._

~ Time Skip ~

_Despite the fact that he had no face, you could tell that Slenderman was frowning. [Are you sure about this, child? You could always stay here. We would be happy to house you and care for you.]_

_You shook your head, glancing at your late grandfather's cabin. Your birthday was tomorrow, but your loving grandfather had died of a heart attack yesterday. This was your last chance to be in the woods since your mother would be coming to pick you up within the next ten minutes. You held your small, (f/c) backpack in one of your shaky hands. It was full to the brim with your sketchbooks, and the stuffed animal you had gotten from LJ when you were even younger stuck out the top. Your glance moved to your two suitcases. The government decided that, since she was mostly better, your mom would be taking you in. It would have been fine with you if your mother wasn't insistent that you live in her house several states away instead of the woods you had grown up in. She didn't like Slender's woods. She said that they were creepy and that there were probably murderers living in them._

_You had neither confirmed nor denied her statement._

_None of the other Creepypastas knew yet. In fact, they were probably planning your seventh birthday party as you were standing there talking to Slenderman. The fact that you wouldn't get to say goodbye hurt, but you knew that they wouldn't let you leave. As it were, you could tell that your faceless dad wanted nothing more than to whisk you away and let you stay in your room in the mansion forever. But he wouldn't do anything you didn't want, which was why he kept asking if you were sure you wanted to go._

_"I don't want to leave my life completely behind," you said softly. Living with the Creepypastas had helped you mature much faster than any other kids your age. "I like going to school, and I don't want to never see my mom again."_

_Slenderman sighed, looking a little put out. [You are surprisingly brave and intelligent for one so young.]_

_"I'm not that young," you complained, whining a little despite the grin growing on your face. "I'm almost seven!"_

_The faceless man gave a slightly forced sounding chuckle before rubbing your (h/c) hair with his hand. [Please be careful out there, child. We know more than any that humans can be brutal creatures. And remember that you are always welcome here.]_

_Your smile grew as you nodded enthusiastically. "Oh!" you gasped out, opening your backpack to grab a small folder. "Could you give these to everybody? I made portraits of them as a going away gift."_

_Slenderman grabbed the thick folder - deciding not to mention that most of them could draw better than you - frown clear in his voice as he said, [this must have taken a very long time.]_

_"I was up all night. I just couldn't stop," you admitted with a sheepish grin._

_As the sound of tires crunching over the dirt road sounded, Slender knelt down and pulled you into a tight hug. [I shall do was you wish, child. But please return one day.]_

_By the time your mother came into view, your faceless dad had disappeared into the woods. She would never find out the real reason you were crying so hard as you drove out of the forest._

~ Time Skip ~

You awoke with a gasp, vaguely aware of the fact that all of your blankets were on the floor and you were facing the wrong way on your bed. It wasn't often that you dreamed about your life before moving out of the woods, but it was always bittersweet. Wiping the sweat and tear streaks from your face, you grabbed a change of clothes and headed for your bedroom door. You stopped at the small shrine you had set up for your late mother and grandfather. There were pictures of both of them, smiling brightly like there wasn't a care in the world.

Shaking your head clear, you went to the bathroom and hopped into the shower.Your new family wasn't all that bad. In reality, you were lucky to have been adopted so quickly after the death of your mother when you were twelve. It was a bit strange to have a mother and father,considering that in the past you only had one or the other, but you had gotten used to it fairly quickly. The weirdest part of the family was your new brother. His name was Xavier, and he brought intelligence to a whole new level. While he was only a year older, he graduated high school when you were twelve. He was in med school now, training to become a doctor. You often doubted that most people would trust a doctor who looked like he was still in high school, but Xavier was dead set on his choice.

As you finished washing yourself and set to washing off the soap from your arms, you hesitated. Angry red scars ran across your arms. You felt your body sag and weaken at the sight of them. You kept them hidden from others, but you always knew that they were there. They were signs of your weakness. How you wanted to leave the world that had been so cruel to you.

But that wasn't fair. Not really. The world gave you new family every time it killed them. You were incredibly lucky to have been adopted so fast, not to mention that your new family is keeping all of your old family's things for when you turn eighteen. Everything your family had left you behind, including the forest. Your birthday was only a few weeks away, meaning that soon you would be able to move out. But... you still wouldn't be able to return to your friends.

Someone knocking on the bathroom door launched you out of your thoughts. "Oi! (y/n)! Hurry up! I don't want you to be late for school, sis!"

You released a breath of air in relief. It was merely Xavier. He drove you to school every morning, so it really shouldn't have surprised you. Taking a deep breath, you stepped out of the shower and got dressed for the day. Unlike other seventeen year old girls, you didn't wear skirts or dresses. The bullies always made sure you felt self conscious, so you tried to cover up as much as possible. After slipping on a pair of jeans that were incredibly comfortable and a simple black t-shirt, you pulled on your finger-less gloves. You'd picked them out because they looked like something a teenager might wear, plus they covered your scars. Shivering slightly at the idea of having to go to school, you left the bathroom and went to your room, slipping on your (f/c) sweatshirt and grabbing your backpack. You gazed at the pictures of your old friends that you'd drawn and stuck to your walls over the years, letting a small smile light up your face. With that little bit of confidence, you pat the stuffed animal that sat on your bedside table and headed out the door. It was going to be a long day,but the idea of coming back home and drawing made it all worth it.

~Time Skip ~

You cursed softly, nearly smacking your computer as it corrupted the file you had _just_ scanned. Sighing loudly, you grabbed the sketch and put it back into the scanner, hoping that it would work this time. When your brother had seen your pictures for the first time, he had suggested you post them online. You were skeptical at first, but when the positive comments rolled in, you kept up with it. Seeing how happy you were, your new parents bought you a scanner. Not many things made you truly happy nowadays, but seeing people react to your drawings was one of them.

Just as the scanner finished, you heard your door open. Based on the fact that they hadn't bothered to knock and were trying to be stealthy, you immediately pegged it as Xavier. Idiot. Even if you hadn't realized the implications at the time, you'd lived with murderers for nearly two years. There was no way he was stealthier.

"Hey, Xavier," you said, raising a hand in a wave before going back to typing up the summary for the picture.

Your adoptive brother sighed, grabbing the picture and nodding appreciatively. "This is awesome." His eyes narrowed. "The'Jacks'?"

"Yeah," you responded, your voice a little wistful. "When I was little, EJ and LJ helped me after I got hurt. EJ patched me up and LJ made me smile and laugh. They don't hang out a lot, but when they do, all hell tends to break loose," you explain with a grin.

Xavier nodded, plopping down on your bed and grabbing the sketchbook you hid under your pillow. "Draw anything new lately?"

You turned so you could glare at him. "Yes. And leave it alone. That's my personal one. You can look at any of the others."

"Yeah, yeah," Xavier said with a little wave of his hand. He pulled out a loose paper, causing you to narrow your eyes. "Whoa. This is cool."

"Please put it back," you grumbled, forcing yourself out of your comfy computer chair.

Your adoptive brother stood, grabbing one of your stray tacks to put it upon your wall with all of the other pictures of your old friends."There. Now you can look at it and smile."

"Seriously, Xavier?"

"Yes, seriously. You always smile when you look at pictures of when you were little. If it makes you smile, its worth it."

You had to bite back a retort as the voice of your adoptive father filtered in from downstairs, "dinner's ready! Xavier! (y/n)!" With that, you groaned loudly and pushed Xavier out the door, following just behind him.

You didn't even realize that someone had been watching you.

_Third POV_

BEN 'swam' through the strings and strings of code, grumbling in annoyance. It had been awhile since his last kill, so he decided that he should head out and get rid of some pent up frustration. Maybe this time imagining that his target was Jeff would work out. As he effortlessly moved through the code, it began to bend to his will and show him just what he wanted. Images of the people on the other side of their computers began to appear. Some of them he immediately flicked away. Those that had more than one person, were too old or young, and those that were clearly talking to someone else were of no use to him. He was about to toss one of a young girl when he froze.

 _'She looks so familiar,'_ he thought to himself, frowning as he floated over to the computer. On the other side was you, humming to yourself as a file was being loaded. Feeling his curiosity overcome his desire to kill, BEN hopped into your computer. He was immediately met with a curse as he accidentally corrupted the new file.

 _'Whoops,'_ he thought, feeling a bit a smile work its way onto his face. Now in the computer, he could get a good look around the room. The walls were covered in sketches of him and the other Creepypastas. It was weird. _'Maybe I can get the others so we can torture her. It's always fun to torture fangirls.'_ As he made a face in thought, a man entered the room. BEN was about to leave, deciding to go and get the others when he heard something that caught his attention.

"The'Jacks'?" the guy asked, holding up an image of EJ and LJ.

BEN felt his mouth lower in a frown. He'd only really known one person who'd called those two that. They'd hated it.

"Yeah," he heard you respond. His red irises and pupils turned to you in surprise. Your voice sounded so oddly familiar. "When I was little, EJ and LJ helped me after I got hurt. EJ patched me up and LJ made me smile and laugh. They don't hang out a lot, but when they do, all hell tends to break loose," you continued.

As you spoke, BEN was getting more and more tense. _'There's no way that I could get that lucky,'_ he thought, eyes narrowing at you in thought. He watched with a small frown as you fought the guy for a paper before he tacked it up on the wall. You two bickered back and forth for a moment before a man's voice filtered in from a different part of the house. BEN wasn't able to pick up much of what the man said, but he did hear your name.

 _'(y/n),'_ he thought as you pushed the other boy through your door. _'How long has it been? She looks so much older. I'd forgotten about how fast mortals age.'_ Shaking his head clear, and making sure that your door was shut, BEN slid from your computer. After nearly face-planting onto the floor, BEN walked over to the picture that had just been added to your wall. The drawing style had certainly improved, but the image itself is what got him. It showed some of the Creepypastas in front of the mansion. You were there, kneeling in the middle. The image looked like someone had sketched a picture. There were even names written by each person, indicating who it was, which was fairly unnecessary since your drawing was at a professional level. BEN ripped the paper from the wall, reading each of the names one by one.

 _'Daddy Slendy. Uncle Splendy. Uncle Trendy. Uncle 'Fendy. Masky & Hoodie.' _BEN noted with a small smile that you'd put their names together since they had their arms around the other, just like they usually did. It had been years, but you even remembered what great friends they were. _'EJ. LJ. Jeffy.'_ BEN chuckled. Everyone knew that Jeff hated it when you called him that, even if he did feel a bit of fondness at the fact you'd given him a nickname. You were the only one he let call him that. _'Benny.'_ BEN winced. Should have figured that you remembered your nickname for him.

Still. Putting all of this together meant that it was most certainly you. It was (y/n). BEN looked around the room, eyes briefly ghosting over the portraits of each of the Creepypastas. He also noticed a separate section for the Creepypastas you hadn't met, but still tried to draw.The newest proxy, Ticci Toby, was on that wall. BEN's gaze froze when it landed on a small shrine. He instantly recognized the old guy that used to own the forest, Neil, but it took him a few moments to recognize that the other picture was of your mother.

 _'That's why I didn't recognize anyone else. She's living with a different family,'_ he thought to himself, wiping away a bloody tear that escaped one of his eyes. _'Dammit! Why didn't she just come to the woods?! We would have taken her in!'_ BEN turned to head back to the computer when he noticed the sketchbook from before sitting on your bedside table beside the stuffed animal LJ had given you all those years ago. Noticing the small sewing kit, BEN let out a strained chuckle. _'She's even caring for it to that extent.'_

Shaking his head clear, BEN grabbed the sketchbook and flipped to the first page. His breath caught in his throat. It depicted all of the Creepypastas around the mansion, doing someone that fit each one. Masky and Hoodie were chatting on the back porch. Slenderman and his brothers were standing off to the side, probably discussing something. Jeff and himself were tackling each other while LJ watched and laughed. Lastly, EJ was sitting nearby, his mask partially off so he could munch on a kidney. The most shocking part of the picture were the words that were scribbled across the top, joined by tear stains.

_I miss you all._

Feeling the tears streaming down his face, and not caring enough to do anything about them this time, BEN grabbed the sketchbook and ran for the computer. He barely remembered to bookmark your computer for later - as well as leave you a personal note - as he flew back to the mansion.

 _'I found her,'_ he repeated over and over again in his head, _'I found our (y/n)!_


	2. She's Ours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't forget to post the next chapter.
> 
> Pfft...
> 
> In any case, sorry about how long this took. The others should come faster now.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Also, please remember that I'm copying this from a separate document, so please feel free to point out mistakes or errors you see ^.^

****_Your POV_

You yawned loudly as you grabbed the clothes Xavier had picked out for you. After a few visits to the hospital, your new parents refused to leave you alone. Today happened to be Friday, just an hour after dinner with your new parents, Daniel and Sylia. Both of them had the night shift at their respective jobs, so it was Xavier's job to watch you. Unfortunately for you, your brother had a college party he wanted to go to. He rarely went to parties, so he had begged you to go with him so that he could go. After a ton of complaining, and a promise to get you a new set of drawing pencils, you agreed to go. As it were, it was still a college party, and Xavier wanted to make sure you didn't stick out. He raided his mother's clothes and managed to find something fairly decent for you to wear.

Well, decent in his words. You didn't want to be caught wearing it in public.

The main piece was a dress that went to your mid-thigh. It was a soft (f/c) color that complimented your skin. From the hip down, it billowed out a little. You were glad that there was a matching pair of shorts to wear under it. Xavier had also managed to find you a pair of knee-high black boots with heels. You had nearly skinned him at the sight of it, but he had argued that it was all the rage in his college. Along with a pair of long leather gloves, he had also picked out a black leather jacket. You were pretty grateful considering that the dress was strapless.

"Hey, sis! Hurry up! I'd like to go in _this_ lifetime!"

You rolled your eyes, grabbing the clothes and slipping them on the best you could. "This is ridiculous," you muttered as you opened the door. "Can't I just dress normally?" you ask.

"Of course not! You'd stick out, and I wouldn't put it past the other kids to realize that you're in high school. That would be bad," he explained, reaching out to pull back your hair and clip it into place. "There. Almost perfect."

"Almost?" you question, raising an eyebrow and trying to look offended.

"I can see your father's mark."

You immediately tensed. The mark your father had carved into your neck on your fifteenth birthday was usually covered by your sweatshirt, so you weren't quite sure what to do with it. It was a strange symbol that started bleeding whenever he wanted to find you. Apparently your blood smelled strange, so it was easy for him to find you.

Shivering, you grabbed your sketchbook and a few pencils. "Let's just go, alright? We can tell people that its a tattoo," you grumbled, pushing past him.

Eyeing you with worry, Xavier nodded and grabbed his keys. "Just let me know when you want to leave."

_Third POV_

BEN tumbled out of the television downstairs, feeling disoriented from going through something that was most definitely _not_ a computer. He was vaguely aware of EJ complaining that his show had been ruined since the TV wasn't going back to normal, but he seemed to quiet when he noticed BEN's face.

"What the hell happened to you?"

BEN pushed himself to his feet, shakily handing the loose piece of paper he'd taken from your house to EJ. As Jack scanned it, BEN looked around and tried to regain his bearings. EJ was sitting on the couch, now looking over the picture. Masky and Hoodie were watching from the doorway to the kitchen, clearly curious about what was going on. BEN could hear Jeff heading down the stairs, not even bothering to be quiet about it.

"Where did you get this?" EJ asked through clenched teeth. His tone of voice got the attention of the three others, who wandered into the living room to join Jack. Jeff plopped down on the couch, his grin a bit smaller than usual. Masky and Hoodie stood behind the couch, leaning forward so they could look at the sketch.

BEN took a deep breath, still reeling from traveling through something as limiting as a TV. "I found her," he gasped out, feeling tears start to run down his face again.

Jeff stood, grabbing the front of BEN's shirt and lifting him off the ground. "You better not be lying, you elven bastard."

"It has to be from her," Masky said, plucking the picture from Eyeless' grip. "She's the only one who gave us these nicknames. No one else would have the guts to call that idiot 'Jeffy'."

Jeff narrowed his eyes the best he could, dropping BEN and reaching for his knife. "Want to say that to my face?"

EJ stood, raising his hands in a peaceful gesture. "Everyone calm down. We need to get to the bottom of this. What else did you find out, BEN?"

Nodding, BEN held out the sketchbook. "This is something she drew."

Hoodie moved his hands to grab the front of the couch, his knuckled getting pale. "I-if she m-misses us, w-why d-d-doesn't she c-come visit?"

BEN sat down on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest. "Her mom died," he said softly, burying his head in his knees. It wasn't often that his confident and somewhat flirty demeanor left, but it was always a little heartbreaking. "I saw a shrine to her mother and grandfather in her room."

"Why didn't she come here, then? Where the hell is she staying?" Masky asked, crossing his arms.

"Someone adopted her," BEN explained, speaking louder instead of taking his head out of his knees.

[Someone adopted who?] a familiar voice questioned within their heads. Everyone jumped, turning their heads towards Slenderman. No one had noticed him come in. Realizing that they were too shocked to answer, the faceless man grabbed the sketchbook and loose paper with two of his tentacles. He tensed seconds later. [Who found her?]

"I did," BEN answered, turning his head so he didn't have to look Slender in the face. "I was looking for someone to kill and thought she looked familiar."

[How is she?]

"She seemed happy," BEN finally said, a small smile working its way onto his face. "She has an older brother and two parents." He was silent for a moment as his smile faded. "But her walls were covered by pictures of us. She even had that stuffed animal LJ gave her all those years ago. By the looks of it, she'd sewed it up whenever it ripped."

Slenderman nodded, his body language oddly unreadable, as he flipped to the next page. Seconds later, the sketchbook fell to the floor. Masky and Hoodie were by his side in an instant, both tensing when they saw the image.

"W-when did (y-y/n) meet Z-Zalgo?" he asked, his words causing everyone else in the room to freeze.

"And why would she need to keep him from hurting us?" Masky added, the other three finally heading over to look at the picture. "We are fairly capable of protecting ourselves, and he's never come into the forest. Besides, we can protect each other better than a mortal could."

There was an odd silence as everyone stared at the image. The background of the picture showed several trees with the mansion behind them. On one side, you were standing there with a slim rapier in hand, what must have been blood dripping from wounds on your body. Across from you was Zalgo, a flaming sword in one hand. He had a cocky grin on his face, as if he felt that there was no way you could win. There was a sentence scrawled across the top;

_I won't let you hurt them, no matter the cost_

BEN shifted nervously. "No matter what cost?" he mumbled, his voice shocking everyone from their stupor.

Slenderman stood tall. [I am going to collect my brothers and those who are out. BEN. Find her.]

The elf boy grinned, red eyes flashing. "On it," he called, running towards the stairs to get to the closest computer. The TV would disorient him too much, and he didn't have the time for that.

_Your POV_

You stifled a yawn that threatened to escape your chest. Your costume had worked. Most of the college kids left you alone. Apparently you looked 'badass', something that made them not want to mess with you. They also seemed fairly afraid of your super-intelligent brother, which was a plus. As it were, you had taken up residence in a corner of one of the rooms. You had a plate of food to one side, and a few of your favorite drinks to the other. The best part was that, once you were able to zone out the voices and music, you had no problem drawing to your hearts content.

At the very least, you were fairly enjoying your time away from your house. Up until someone next to you swore loudly. A young man, probably a reporter for the school paper or something, was fiddling with his camera, muttering something about how it had been working fine a second ago. You felt your face pale. If there was one thing that could screw up a perfectly fine camera within seconds, you knew who it was. Feeling a cold sense of dread settling in your stomach, you slammed your notebook shut and ran to find Xavier.

The moment you say him, you called out, "we need to go."

Your brother frowned. "What? I checked on you a few minutes ago. Everything seemed fine."

You shook your head. "Someone was having trouble with their expensive looking camera."

At Xavier's blank stare, you groaned. He hadn't believed you at first - though who would, really - and he still knew next to nothing about your old friends. Sometimes, strangling him really seemed like the best option. Was this how it was with all siblings?

Leaning forward, you hissed "Slenderman" into his ear.

The boy immediately paled, grabbing your free hand and dragging you out the back door. He knew everything about the relationships between you, the Creepypastas, and even Zalgo. And if you were correct about the static being Slenderman's arrival, either on purpose or not, the both of you had to get out of there. Xavier cursed loudly as he pulled you through the small wooded area between the house where the party had been at and the parking lot where'd he left the car. He should have gotten here sooner, then he could have parked closer.

Both of you froze at a voice infiltrating your minds, [child! Stop running!]

You were panting heavily, and you realized that trying to outrun them would be pointless. As you turned to look at them, you noticed that Slenderman appeared concerned - if his body language was still the same as it was all those years ago - and his tentacles were keeping the others from running towards you. You were also all too aware of the tears rushing down your cheeks like small rivers. Xavier moved in front of you a little, blocking your view of the Creepypastas.

Slenderman wasn't deterred at all by your brother's actions. [Why do you run from us, child?]

Ignoring him, you latched onto your brother's jacket. "We _need_ to go _now_. He'll hurt them!"

"I know," Xavier responded, turning to give you a small smile before hardening his expression and turning back to your old friends. "Listen up, okay? I understand that you haven't seen my sister in a long time, but you have to let her go!"

[And what do you know of our situation?] Slenderman asked, sounding fairly annoyed.

Your brother sighed before answering, "everything. It was the only way for me to understand what she was going through!"

Before anyone else could interject, a stinging pain overwhelmed your senses, causing you to cry out. One of your gloved hands raised to cover your neck, and you could feel the familiar warmth of blood. "No!" you cried, not even bothering to try and stop the tears now. "You guys need to get out of here!"

[What is the matter, child?!] Slenderman called out, stepping forward in his concern. [Please allow us to help!]

It was so unlike Slenderman to plead like that, so you were fairly caught off guard. He lost his temper often, something that was hard to avoid since he was in charge of the Creepypastas that lived at the mansion, and everyone knew that they loved to raise hell. You cried out in pain as Xavier tried to pry your hand from its death grip on your neck. "Please just go! I don't want him to hurt all of you!"

A large boom sounded as a crack within reality appeared beside you. A horribly familiar man stepped through, a deadly grin upon his face. **"I would not have hurt them if you had stayed away,"** the familiar voice boomed. **"We had an agreement, girl,"** he snarled out, roughly grabbing one of your arms. You cried out at the pain, noticing that all of the Creepypastas immediately lowered into fighting positions at your cry. Zalgo merely seemed amused. **"I suggest you stay out of this. It is not you who made a deal with me."**

"You made a deal with Zalgo?!" Splendorman gasped out, the horror clear in his voice.

"I didn't have a choice!" you cried, not even bothering to wipe away your tears as you struggled against Zalgo's grip.

 **"Calm, girl,"** Zalgo rumbled, tossing you into your brother with a single flick of his wrist. **"I have no desire to hurt you. You know this. However,you did not keep up your end of the deal. I shall have to deal out some punishments."**

A gasp arose from your lips, everything happening in a strange sort of blur, even for you. Zalgo snapped his sword into existence, immediately charging towards BEN, who had been a little further away from the group. With inhuman speed, you charged forward, not even aware that you were screaming your old friend's name. A sharp pain exploded in your side as you fell to the ground. BEN was frozen to one side of you, while Zalgo was staring at his blood soaked sword in disgust. You could feel blood pouring from the wound on your side, groaning in pain.

"(y/n)!" Eyeless Jack yelled out, rushing to your side. He tore off his sweatshirt to try and stem the blood flow. "Dammit!" he cursed, black streaks moving down his face like tears. "She's a mortal! Why the hell would she do something so reckless?!"

In your half-aware state, you could almost _hear_ Zalgo grin. " **You don't know, then? You all still believe her to be a mortal?"**

You could hear a sharp intake of breath from your old friends. "What the hell are you getting at?!" Jeff yelled out. You could practically hear his knife hand twitching for action.

**"Why, she's only half mortal. That girl is the daughter of a mortal mother and yours truly."**

If anything were to cause your worry over the entire situation to worsen, it was the stunned silence following Zalgo's statement. And it wasn't like you could argue. While your mother - sweet, sweet, Clara - had been the kindest woman on the planet, your father was the scum of the earth. And a damned powerful scum of the earth too.

Regardless, that _scum_ had _dared_ try to injure one of your friends! The demon inside of you - the _thing_ that Zalgo had been trying to nurture since he found you a few years ago - began to stir, demanding vengeance for his transgression. It had been a long time since you'd sparred with your father, but you'd almost beaten him that time.

 ** _{Let me hurt him, (y/n),}_** the demon whispered in your head, egging you on. It wasn't often she spoke, but it was during the times you were willing to let her hurt someone.

Trying to ignore the nearly debilitating pain in your side, you let her come out. You really didn't want your friends to see this side of you - the side that you yourself wanted nothing to do with - but you didn't have any other choice. That bastard would just keep hurting them if you didn't do anything.

What a strange snarl that most definitely did not belong to you, you started to push yourself up. A gasp of surprise sounded from your side, sounding a lot like EJ. You could feel something soft come off your wound and fall to the ground. A glance revealed it as his sweatshirt. You felt a small twinge in your heart. EJ had always been such a good guy. And that _bastard_ wanted to hurt him.

When you finally got to your feet, shaking like mad, you noticed that Zalgo was grinning. **"Getting up, I see. I suggest that you just lay back down, girl. Better yet, pick one of these idiots for me to injure, and I'll leave them alone until you break our deal again."**

A low growl worked its way up your throat, and when you spoke, it was no longer you. The demon inside was taking control. _**{I have allowed you to train and torture me under the agreement that you would not hurt them!}** _ You noticed the Creepypastas tense at 'your' words. _ **{I won't let you touch them!}**  _you snarled, feeling an uncomfortably familiar tingle work its way down your spine. Your demon wasn't just taking over. She was coming out to help you fight.

The changes were immediate, albeit painful. A pair of deathly sharp horns emerged from your head, and your teeth sharpened to razor sharp points.The energy radiating from you destroyed everything it deemed unimportant, mainly your gloves and jacket. Inky markings on your right hand moved to the tips of your fingers, forming into a slim rapier. You could even feel your skin harden a little, an invisible layer of scales coming up to protect it. At the same time, you could feel your internal wounds starting to knit themselves back together. None of the changes were a pleasant feeling.

You raised your sword at Zalgo and bared your teeth. _**{Leave now, and perhaps I shall forget what you've done!}** _ your demon half snarled out.

**"You may reach my level of power, dear, but I have years of practice."**

With those words, Zalgo gripped his sword tightly and lunged for you. Your demon half controlled you, making you parry the move with ease. What Zalgo often forgot is that it was your mortal half that gave you a wider range of motions that demons like him. And your desire to protect your friends, your _determination_ , made you all that much stronger. You pushed him off, feeling your brain detach from the situation a little. With your demon taking control, you could take stock of your surroundings. Unsurprisingly, your old friends were clearly very shocked. When you had been with them as a child, you hadn't even known that your demon half existed. In fact, she hadn't awoken until Zalgo appeared.

Your mind refocused on the fight when your demon landed a blow, slicing open Zalgo's arm. You could feel her power surge, and the pain this time was much worse than before. A pair of leathery demon wings sprung from your back, emerging from just above the line of your dress. Your demon was getting stronger and crazier with every moment, especially with the scent of Zalgo's blood in the air. If this kept up, she might take control. But at the same time, you couldn't let her leave just yet. She felt no pain - which was different from you, since the pain was almost overcoming you - and you had yet to defeat Zalgo.

"(y/n)!" Xavier called from where the Creepypastas where, having moved over there when the fight started. "You need to stop! Last time you let that _thing_ take over, she nearly destroyed you!"

You ignored your brother. Your safety was nothing compared to the safety of your friends. With a grimace, you felt your sword morph back into your hand, the ink separating into two halves and growing sharp claws onto the tip of each finger. You felt like the damned rake. The continued on at a relentless pace, your birth father unable to land a single blow. The closest he got was to kick you into a tree right after your demon had torn open his side. The tree crunched under the force of your body, and neither you nor your demon noticed the falling branch until it was too late.

_Third POV_

If someone had made of list of all the things the Creepypastas hadn't been expecting when they went to talk to you, they probably would have checked everything off. It was one thing to learn that you'd made a deal with the infamous Zalgo. It was another thing entirely to learn that the bastard was your father. However, the most surprising thing was that you didn't just hold your own against Zalgo. You were kicking ass, something even Slenderman couldn't manage.

But something was bothering Slenderman, and, if his expression was any indicator, it was bothering Eyeless Jack too. Shortly before you had rushed into battle, your gloves had been destroyed. There was only a few moments between the destruction of your gloves and you rushing into battle, but it was enough. Both Slenderman and EJ had noticed that your forearms were covered in scars. There was no question as to why you wore the gloves, but they couldn't help but wonder how long you had to be depressed to cause that much damage.

Both men were shot out of their thoughts when a branch slammed into your head, effectively knocking you unconscious. Zalgo was bleeding pretty badly, so he opened a portal the moment he knew that you were down for the count. He turned to the group, growling out, **"if she is not returned to me tomorrow, than I shall kill everyone she cares about. Including the mortal family,"** before moving through the portal and shutting it behind him. The boom of the portal closing echoed throughout the small wooded area, leaving everyone standing there for a few moments in stunned silence.

Xavier was the first to move, running towards your limp body and pushing the branch off. "(y/n)!" he called out, shaking you lightly. Your demon features had disappeared, making you appear as if you were mortal once more. Taking a deep, shaky breath, Xavier turned and raised his head to your old friends. "You need to get her somewhere safe. I haven't seen her fight that hard in over a year, and she needs rest and a safe place to sleep. I can't even imagine how much pain she must be in right now."

Slenderman carefully wrapped a few of his tentacles around you, lifting your injured body into his arms before wrapping a tentacle around your brother. [We will go to the mansion,] he said, wrapping a different tentacle around Eyeless Jack, since he knew more than anyone about how to care for you. [Brothers. Please bring the others back.]

"Don't worry about a thing," Offenderman said, his usual smirk replaced by a wide frown. "Just help _her_ , will you?"


	3. Old and New Gifts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this shortly after the previous chapter as an apology! I hope you all enjoy! Just like before, I'm copying from a different source, so please feel free to point out mistakes.
> 
> Anyway, Reader is in danger! And holy buckets she's the daughter of Zalgo! Ahh!
> 
> I hope you enjoy the next thrilling installment!

_Third POV_

By the time Offenderman, Splenderman, and Trenderman had managed to get the rest of the Creepypastas back to the mansion, the three who had gone ahead had already done all they could for you. For the most part, your demon half had healed your internal injuries. Xavier had taken care of the wound on your head the best he could while Eyeless Jack stitched up the wound on your side. They both agreed it would have been much worse if you hadn't been able to stop your internal bleeding before the real fight began.

As of now, everyone you knew you, plus a very curious Ticci Toby, had gathered in the living room. Most of them had random perches on the floor since you were laying on the couch with Xavier beside you. For a long time, everyone was silent. No one really knew what to say or where to start. It had been over ten years, and, if they remembered correctly, your birthday was a little less than a week away.

It ended up being EJ who spoke first. "Why is she all scratched up?" he asked, earning confused glances from all but Slender.

Xavier made a face before sighing and leaning back so he could stare at the high ceiling. "She was really upset, you know," he started. "I mean, when she finally met Zalgo. He just sort of showed up one day and did the whole, 'I'm your father routine'. Neither of us believed him until he woke up her demon half."

[What exactly does that mean?] Slenderman interrupted from his perch in one of the corners.

"Well, until he woke up _that_ half, (y/n) was a mortal. The only difference between her and other humans was the fact that she had Zalgo's blood in her veins. When he woke up the demon blood, (y/n) gained that other half."

Slenderman nodded before adding, [and you said that Zalgo had something to do with the scars upon her wrists?]

With it being put so bluntly, it finally dawned on the other Creepypastas what EJ had meant earlier. They could feel their throats clench up. Why would (y/n), the sweet little girl that was always smiling, ever hurt herself like that?

Xavier sighed softly. "It was a lot being piled on at once. During their second meeting, Zalgo offered her a deal. He said that if she trained with him, then he would stop sending his people after you guys. She accepted of course. She's always been selfless like that." He turned his gaze to you. "Now, if you add this onto the fact that she was being bullied pretty mercilessly at school-" Xavier noticed Jeff cringe out of the corner of his eye "-then you've got one really unhappy girl." Your brother clenched his eyes shut, willing his tears away before he managed to choke out, "she's been to the hospital three times."

Silence reigned in the room while everyone tried to comprehend what they were just told. Since they'd last seen you, your mind had become so broken, partially of your own accord. Your words from the battle before suddenly appeared in their minds. Without the slightest hesitation, you had mentioned that you let Zalgo train and _torture_ you in order to keep them safe. And you had been ripping at the seams, trying to keep it all together and eventually trying to end your life because you couldn't handle it.

"Anyway," Xavier continued, clearly uncomfortable with the silence. "There's a reason we're always hanging out, you know? My parents won't let her be on her own anymore. That's why she was at that party with me." Sighing softly, your brother turned back to you and checked the bandage around your head. "It's also how I knew about her demon half. I need to be with (y/n), so her father dragged me to all of their training sessions."

"They weren't that bad, were they?" BEN asked, his eyes narrowing.

Xavier made a face, before shaking his head. "I wish I could say that they were all nice and happy. But they... they weren't pretty. (y/n) never came back from it with more sanity than she went in with."

Jeff snarled quietly before asking, "what about her bullies?"

"No idea. She refused to tell me about it. I would have no problem kicking them into next week, but she won't tell me who they are."

No one spoke for a little while again. It ended up being Toby who broke the silence,

"Who is this?"

_Your POV_

The first thing you noticed as you started to wake up from your sleepless dream was the throbbing pain in your head and side. Your back muscles and hands were sore, likely from the wings and claws that your demon half had acquired. Groaning quietly, you set up and took stock of your surroundings. You were fairly confused at first, not recognizing the room until it hit you like a branch to the head.

This was your room. When you lived with your grandfather, there were times when he couldn't be around. For those times, Slenderman prepared a room for you. The walls were covered by pretty horrible kid drawings of your friends. There were also a few pictures of you with various Creepypastas. The room itself was a bright pink, the color picked out by Masky and Hoodie who had a fairly skewed view of what little girls liked. The bed had familiar smelling, (f/c) blankets that Trenderman had picked up for you. He was also the one who supplied you with clothes that were much more fashionable than what your grandfather picked out.

Taking a deep breath, you stood up and walked over to the dresser that seemed a lot smaller than it did ten years ago. A shock ran down your spine at what sat before what you were looking for. In front of your princess clock Splenderman had gotten you for your sixth birthday, was a stack of presents. Some were wrapped really nicely while others looked like someone had just mashed together a bunch of tape and paper.

They must have been the presents everyone had gotten you for your seventh birthday. Shaking, you checked the time. It was seven in the morning, meaning that you had at least two hours before Zalgo managed to finish healing his injuries. At the very least, that was long enough to open the presents, right? It may have been a little selfish of you, but you wanted to know. At the same time, you didn't want to make your friends wait any longer.

After setting all of the presents on the ground, you sat in the middle and reached for one. Your hand ended up grabbing a fairly small box that looked like whoever wrapped it didn't know how paper worked. You glanced at the tag. Your name was written with incredibly messy penmanship and... was it written in blood?

Jeff, you decided, carefully tearing off the paper amalgamate. Underneath was a black leather box. Frowning, you opened the box and gasped at the contents. There was a small yet deadly knife with a wrapped (f/c) handle. Just beneath it was a sheath that you could probably attach to your hip. Smiling at the object, no doubt Jeff's not-so-subtle way of saying he wanted to teach you to kill, you tied it around your waist and sheathed it.

With that, you moved to the next present. This one was fairly large wrapped with bright polka-dot paper. Splenderman. No doubt. Feeling the slightest bit of apprehension (his gifts sometimes gave with exploding bags of glitter, something you'd found out the hard way), you tore off the paper. Inside was the unopened case for a child's acoustic guitar. You vaguely remember mentioning once that you really liked music. A soft smile graced your lips. Splendy was always really good at remember the little things.

Next was a small cylindrical present wrapped with almost surgical precision. Eyeless Jack. The soft blue color reminded you of his mask, and you felt a little bad when you ripped it off. It took a few minutes for you to find a small clip that held an edge to the rest of the present. Frowning a bit, you undid the clip and rolled out the strange object. A quiet chuckle left your mouth. It was a doctor's surgical kit, with a scalpel of course. Apparently Jeff wasn't the only one that wanted to teach you to kill.

Slenderman would have been pissed.

Still grinning, you went to the next present. This one was wrapped slightly better than first, but it wasn't much of an improvement. The wrapping paper was a dark green, and there were droplets of red. Not bothering to stand on ceremony, you tore the paper off. A strangled noise of surprise left your throat. Inside was a custom Game Boy, the sleek (f/c) color added with an image of Link and BEN standing back to back, Link looking generally terrified. At the bottom of paper, you noticed a copy of Majora's Mask, with a note from BEN saying that he thought you'd enjoy it. Plus a promise not to screw with your game.

Setting it carefully to the side, you grabbed a tiny box that was no bigger than your palm. Instead of being wrapped, there was a rose red ribbon tied around it. There was no tag. Raising an eyebrow, you undid the ribbon and opened the velvet container. On the inside was a charm bracelet with a single charm on it. A rose. Offenderman. Gulping down your happy tears, you gingerly picked up the bracelet and snapped it around your wrist. It would have been huge on you when you were a kid.

Once the bracelet was firmly around your wrist, you grabbed the next present. The careful wrapping joined by the beautiful calligraphy that your name was written in made you realize that this present was from Hoodie. You had no trouble sliding the paper off, something he did on purpose, no doubt. The box before you was a bundle of fancy sketchbooks. Things that had probably cost a pretty penny.

With an eyebrow raise, you leaned over to grab Masky's gift. You had no doubt that the duo would have gotten you something that went together. Without much hesitation, you tore open the present and gasped. Inside was a professional drawing kit. You would have squandered it as a kid, but you could definitely make use of something so nice nowadays. The thought made you grin.

Setting the kit and sketchbooks to the side, you grabbed one of the few remaining presents. The wrapping paper on this one was fairly generic happy birthday paper, covered in balloons and bright colors. If you had to hazard a guess, you'd say that this one was Slenderman. He tended to go with what was most popular since he preferred to eat kids instead of giving them presents. The present itself was fairly thin, but it was wide and tall. You felt tears prick your eyes when you saw what was inside. It was a picture someone - your grandfather most likely - had taken of everyone in the middle. Surrounding the large picture were smaller frames. Each frame held a picture of one of your friends, most of them grinning or giving you thumbs ups. Masky and Hoodie had their own, as well as one for the two of them together.

Wiping away your tears, you set the frame aside with the intention of hanging it later. The next gift was fairly heavy, and you had a hard time picking it up. It was wrapped with at least five different types of paper, and you had a hard time figuring out who it was from. As you stated tearing off the paper, a small note in impressively bad handwriting fell out. Feeling curious, you picked it up and did your best to figure out what it said.

_"Hi, stranger! I have no idea who you are, but your room is really pretty! I'm new to the mansion, so I sorta came into your room when I was looking around. I considered taking the presents on the dresser, but decided to give you one instead. Everyone needs one of these! I hope you come back soon, stranger. The others look sad when they look at your door. I can't wait to meet you! ~ Toby"_

The rest of the paper was covered in doodles of who you now knew to be Toby. There were also smiley faces everywhere. You had certainly read about Slendy's new proxy, but you had never considered that you may actually meet him. You finished opening the present, revealing a brand new waffle iron.

With a chuckle, you set the present to the side. There were two presents left. Grabbing the smaller of the two, you skimmed it. The wrapping paper was a soft (f/c), a beautiful ribbon tied around it. If the wrapping style was to be believed, it had to be Trenderman. The inside was a catalogue, no doubt of Trender's own creation, and a note saying he'd buy you anything from it. You flipped through it, pleasantly surprised when the large magazine had clothes options from seven to adult.

After you finished looking at the catalogue, you transferred everything you'd already opened to the bed. It was around this time that you noticed a change of clothes on your bedside table. There was also a note from your brother asking that you come downstairs after waking up. You promptly ignored the note and changed into what your brother had brought while you had been sleeping. You were now wearing a pair of light jeans, a simple t-shirt, a fairly tight - your brother must have forgotten that you liked them baggier - (f/c) sweatshirt, and a pair of replacement gloves. You reattached the knife and its sheath to your hip, letting the surgical equipment EJ had gotten you to hang between your shoulder blades.

When you were done changing, you walked over to the last present. If the bright colors were any indication, much less the size, it was from Laughing Jack. Carefully, you tore open the top of the box. Several stuffed animals dotted the top, and you immediately lifted them out for cuddles. After shoving your face in them for awhile, you tossed them onto your bed to see what else there was in the box. After pulling out ten separate boxes of candy, you started to sense a pattern. Had LJ been trying to fatten you up or something? You were snapped out of your thoughts when something that was most certainly _not_ a box of candy caught your eye. After opening the lid, your breath caught in your throat. It was a necklace, the chain made of sterling silver. There were a few small emblems made of gold that represented all of the Creepypastas you knew. The largest of the emblems was the one in the center. It was a carnival tent, and you felt a smile tug at your lips.

"Damn, LJ. Were you trying to show everyone else up?" you muttered to yourself as you slipped the necklace on.

Your face hardened moments later. Now that you had gotten this out of the way, you needed to find a way to protect your friends. You had an idea, and the knowledge you needed to do so was prickling at the back of your mind. With no real option, you tossed open your window. No one was outside, which wasn't surprising considering that Slenderman always got everyone get together for lunch. There was a sudden moment where you were fairly upset that you lived on the second floor. Still, the drainage pipe to your left provided some good ideas.

With a deep breath, you reached out and grabbed a hold of the pipe. Moments later, your hands lost their grip and a pair of pure white, feathery wings burst from your back and ripped through your shirt and jacket.

"Guess that only works in movies and books," you mutter, flapping lightly to the ground.

"That tends to be how physics works. Going somewhere?" a familiar voice asked, a soft chuckle in his voice.

You spun on your heels, spotting a very unamused Laughing Jack. "O-oh... h-hi, LJ."

"Are you seriously leaving?" he asked, eyebrows lowering and making him look like a little lost puppy.

You managed a small smile, one hand subconsciously raising to rub against the necklace he'd given you. "Of course not. I've learned a few things in my training, and I wanted to put them to good use."

Jack walked forward until he was close to you. "You opened our gifts?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. I was really happy. I remember being really sad that I had to leave you guys."

"We were pretty sad too," LJ said with a shrug before looking you over. "What's up with the wings, by the way?"

You grinned a little, glancing around before moving towards the front of the mansion so you could start on your plan. "Not quite sure. I've only seen these once before, actually. It was about a year ago when Rake attacked Xavier during training. I wanted to protect him, and, next thing I knew, these things were sticking out of my back. A little different from before, huh?" You did your best to smile, but the thought of them having seen your demon made it hard.

LJ smiled brightly, tossing you a piece of your favorite candy. "Brighten up, huh? You look a lot prettier when you smile."

You caught the candy, gaping after him as he walked into the mansion. Had he just called you pretty?

_Third POV_

LJ yawned, keeping an eye on you through the windows he passed. A soft white light was glowing at your feet, and he had a hard time looking away when you started to fly around, trailing the light behind you.

[You're late,] Slenderman said when LJ walked through the door.

The monochrome man shrugged, leaning against the door frame. Everyone was at the table, including Xavier - who was looking incredibly pale and probably should _not_  have been sat beside the kidney eater Eyeless Jack.

"I got held up."

"You know better than to miss a meal," Masky spoke up, nonchalantly slapping Hoodie's hand away when he tried to go for his cheesecake. "Hurry up and sit down."

LJ just grinned, his pointed teeth gleaming in the light as he popped a caramel into his mouth. "(y/n) is outside," he said, enjoying the shock on everyone's faces as they realized what he had just said.

[ _What_?!]

"She jumped out her window," he continued. "I was keeping on eye on her window in case she decided to play hero and go to Zalgo."

"Is she okay?" Jeff asked, standing so quickly he nearly knocked over his chair.

"Why not see for yourselves?"

LJ stepped back and allowed the herd of Creepypastas to run by hum and out the door. Those that didn't really know (y/n) stayed inside and either finished their meals or went to the windows to satiate their curiosity. Once it was safe, the monochrome man followed the group and headed outside. The light had become much more impressive since he'd come in a few moments earlier. Intricate patterns covered the ground and the strange light dome that now surrounded the mansion. It seemed that the light went far away, probably covering the forest. Everyone outside was just staring in shock.

Suddenly, a flash of light flew overhead, skimming across the ground and creating a beautiful pattern around where you had started. They all just watched as you danced across the grass and let your light trails. Your breaths were coming in quick gasps, but you soon flew to the highest point before practically free-falling back down and connecting the end of your like trail to the beginning. As both ends merged, a soft golden glow expanded from the tips of your toes and stretched out to the dome. The strange rune you'd created in the grass burned brightly, the grass there nothing but ashes.

_Your POV_

As the light finally faded, you were standing there, gasping for air. Your wings twitched a few times before disappearing into your back once more. Surprisingly enough, whatever holes might have been in your sweatshirt and shirt were slowly stitched up as the wings went. Grinning tiredly, the group watched you turn to them.

"Heh. I was hoping that would work," you said, trying to seem confident.

Everyone watched in silence as Xavier walked forward and smacked the back of your head.

"Ow! What the heck?!"

"Idiot. Stop making everyone worry."

You grinned brightly. "Sorry. I really don't mean to."

"What is all this?" Masky asked, stepping forward to study the rune you had burned into the ground.

"Ah. It's a fairly complex rune I read about when I was raiding Zalgo's library. It should protect the woods from any invaders, so Zalgo and his people can't get to you guys." At this, a true smile finally graced your face, and the Creepypastas could tell. "Consider it a gift from me!"

Seeming a bit more relaxed, your old friends started to laugh. The absurdity of the situation seemed to finally be setting in. Their mortal - who apparently wasn't even mortal - friend, who they remembered as a little girl who could barely keep from falling and scraping her knee, was protecting them. As the laughter died down, it was Jeff who spoke.

"Hey, wait a minute. You opened our gifts?"

Your grin turned a bit sheepish as you turned to Jeff. "Oh, uh, yeah. How'd you know?"

The killer couldn't keep his own smirk off his face. "I'd recognize that knife anywhere," he explained, pointing to your waist. "I picked it and the gripping out myself."

[You got her a knife for her seventh birthday?] Slenderman asked, the annoyance clear in his voice.

Trying to protect him a little, you turned around so everyone could see the black roll that rested between your shoulder blades. "EJ got me a set of surgical equipment."

"Hey! Don't throw me under the bus too!"

[Did anyone else get her something dangerous?!]

It was around this time that Toby stepped forward, bouncing a little on his heels. "I got her a waffle iron!"

Everyone turned to stare at him, some a little more menacing than others.

Toby didn't seem deterred at all as he ran up to you. "Nice to finally meetcha', (y'n)!"

You grinned at his antics. He was just like the wiki said he would be. "It's nice to meet you, too, Toby."

"I hope you liked the waffle iron," he continued, not even bothering to pause for breath. "I'd never met you, but I saw all the presents and thought that I should get you something, too. But I didn't know you, so I had no idea what to get you. But a waffle iron! Everyone needs one! I mean, who doesn't like waffles?!"

You grimaced a little. Oh yeah. He was definitely like the wiki described. Perhaps a bit too much like some people described him.

As you were trying to get your bearings, Hoodie and Masky came up and tried to drag Toby away. The others joined, and soon everyone seemed to get into some sort of shouting match. Slenderman was watching, shaking his head and looking quite like a disappointed father.

The whole scene made you laugh. This was it. This was why you loved everyone here so much. They were one big family, even if they were as dysfunctional as all hell. And, even if it had only been for a little less than two years, they had been _your_  family. They had, and still, accepted you as one of their own. These were your people.

You didn't care if you weren't a Creepypasta, these people were your family.

And you would go to hell and back to keep them safe.


	4. A Real Demon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More stuff happens!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been working on NaNoWriMo...
> 
> I'll probably post the next few chapters within a few days since I'm caught up.
> 
> As always, please feel free to point out any spelling or grammar mistakes.
> 
> Old Notes:  
> (A/N: Woo! Reader is happy!  
> Did you know that there is a quote about how to write a good book?  
> "Think about the worst thing you could do to your character, then do it," or something like that.
> 
> I haven't gotten any new requests for character endings, so please request some! I'll write endings for all the choices and then some, if you guys would like! There's only going to be one more chapter before the ending chapters, so please request people. It takes me awhile to plan unique events and reactions for each character, so the sooner you request, the sooner I can draft up their chapter outlines.
> 
> Enjoy the newest chapter!)

 

_Your POV_

You held back a yawn as the people around you chattered excitedly. All of your friends seemed to have fallen back into some sort of routine. They still talked to you as much as they could, but you felt a profound happiness that they were willing to treat you as they might have if you had stayed all of these years.

At the very least, you were happy until you caught Maksy and Hoodie whispering to each other in the corner.

"I know that they want (y/n) to relax a little, but isn't this a little dramatic? What about what Zalgo said?"

"(y-y/n) said th-that he wouldn't w-wake up f-f-for a while, though."

"It doesn't change the fact that he threatened to kill her mortal family. Why aren't we doing anything about that? Even Xavier seems to have forgotten."

"M-maybe he's p-pretending?" Hoodie suggested, though you had started tuning out a bit at this point.

Was there any truth to what they were saying? Did Zalgo really threaten to kill Daniel and Sylia? Those two had always been so nice to you... Could you really let Zalgo kill them just to ensure that you were safe? This was the reason you had avoided your old friends in the first place. If this kept up, then your father would just hurt everyone you cared about.

"(y/n)?"

You were snapped out of your thoughts when BEN waved his hand in front of your face. You must have been zoning out or something.

"Sorry," you mumbled, thoughts running through your mind like a squirrel on coffee. "What's up?" As soon as you asked that, you took notice of everyone around you. They were still talking to each other, but their voices had become quieter, and many of them started to cast glances at you.

"I was asking if you were alright," BEN said, frowning.

You wracked your brain for a lie. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just tired."

At this point, Xavier stepped away from Eyeless Jack, who he'd been discussing medicine with, to walk up to you. "That's not surprising. I was actually expecting you to sleep all day."

You managed a smile. "I might go back to bed for awhile, now that you mention it."

With a wave, you left the living room and started towards the stairs. A chorus of 'sleep well' and 'come back soon' echoed from the room, cutting off as the door shut. Your heart was clenching. As long as you were lucky, Masky and Hoodie wouldn't have realized that you'd overheard them.

"I'm sorry," you said softly as you shut the door to your room. "But I promised that I'd do anything to protect all of you."

_Third POV_

Masky shifted nervously. It _had_ to be a coincidence that you were feeling strange while they were talking about Zalgo, right? He could feel Hoodie's own apprehension from where he was talking to Xavier a few feet away. His paranoia was getting the best of him, and Masky slid along the walls until he could grab the one person who would follow his orders without many questions.

"Huh? What's up, Masky? Something bothering you? C'mon, Masky, tell me!"

 _'Can't he shut up for two seconds?'_ Masky thought to himself, face scrunching up in annoyance behind his mask. "I want you to go check on (y/n), Toby."

"Why? She's tired and wanted to slee-"

"Toby."

The newest proxy frowned behind his mouth guard, cringing. "Okay, okay!" he called out cheerfully, bolting from the room. He practically bounded up the steps, almost tripping and falling back down when he reached the top. Bouncing on his heels, he knocked on your door. "Hiya, (y/n)! Masky's being a worrywart again! Can I come in?" Silence. "(y/n)?" Feeling oddly conflicted, the boy threw open your door. When the only things there were a note on your bed and an open window, he went for the note.

_"Hey, guys. I'm really sorry. I love you guys so much, and this isn't exactly what I want... but Zalgo wouldn't stop with Daniel and Sylia. No, he would go after you guys once my parents were killed. If the only way for me to keep you all safe is to give myself to him, then I'll do so gladly. Please don't worry. I've been getting stronger by the day. Zalgo won't be able to keep me down long._   
_I'm going to miss you."_

Toby stared at your note for a few moments before bolting out the door and down to the living room. "Masky! Masky! Masky! Masky! Masky! Masky! Masky! Masky! Masky! Masky! Masky! Masky! Masky! Masky! Masky!" By the time he threw open the door, everyone was staring at him, most of them looking fairly annoyed.

"Where is she?" Masky immediately asked, earning a confused glance from the others.

Toby ran for the other proxy, vaulting over the sofa. "Note!" he called, handing over the paper. "I went to check on her like you asked, and I was confused because she didn't answer the door. Her window was open and there was the note just sitting there, and-"

Masky cursed under his breath, effectively cutting Toby off. "We need to go," he said, lifting his head to look at everyone. "It seems that (y/n) plans on trading all of our lives, including the lives of her new parents, for her life."

"We just got her back!" Jeff snarled out, his hand instinctively moving to his knife.

"If he gets her, we're never seeing her again," Eyeless Jack said with a hum, frowning behind his mask.

There was a moment of hesitation where Jeff shot off the couch. "Smile!" he yelled out, running outside. He was barely aware of the others following him as he called for the dog. Within moments, a large blood red dog ran from around the building, skidding to a stop before his master and barking in curiosity. "Do you remember the scent of the owner of the room no one lives in?" he asked, smirking when the creature nodded. "Track her."

Everyone else seemed to brighten up when they realized that they might still have a chance at finding you.

_Your POV_

Your wings cringed in pain from being used so much after a long period of resting. The result was to send you toppling through the tree branches as you attempted to regain altitude. After groaning on the forest floor for a few moments, you finally stood and checked your wings. The right one was definitely dislocated, but you were fairly certain that the left one was just sprained. And now you had gotten blood everywhere. Great.

Sighing softly, you looked around to get your bearings. You were about to pop your wing back in and try flying again when you spotted the burned line in the ground that signified the edge of the rune's effect. You had to be pretty close to the forest edge. Walking to the edge, you raised a shaking hand to pull the scab on your neck off.

"Zalgo!" you yelled, repeating a few words that he had taught you in the case that you ever needed him. As you finished the demonic phrase - words leaving an ashy taste on your tongue - a _crack_ sounded through the near silent woods. Zalgo stepped out of the newly formed portal, grinning at you.

**"So you have returned, then?"**

"On one condition," you reply, trying to appear confident.

 **"And you believe that you can make requests of me after your show the other day?"** he asked, stepping forward. A grunt a pain left his body as he reeled back from the barrier you had situated between the two of you. A bit of genius on your part, actually.

"I'll go with you and follow your orders as long as you don't hurt either of my families," you said, registering the sound of footsteps approaching rapidly. This had to go quick. "Deal?" you asked, holding a hand across the barrier.

Zalgo grinned maniacally, grabbing your hand and pulling you over the burnt line in the ground. **"Deal."** He dragged you to the portal, his grin widening when the two of you heard the shouts of your friends as they neared. **"I hope that you realize that you are going to be punished for a long time."**

"I understand," you muttered, glancing back long enough to see Smile and the others burst through the tree line. Their horrified expressions would haunt you for a very, very long time.

~ Time Skip ~

You weren't one to go on ceremony, so you had no problem walking into the dining hall and kicking a lesser pasta from your seat. When he tried to argue, your bared your sharpened teeth at him, effectively making him run for his life. You sat down you plates and drink, nodding at the few others at the table. Lesser pastas always tried to sit with the girls at your table. Thought that they could flirt with them and steal them away before you arrived. Idiots.

"We tried to kick him out of your seat," Clockwork said with a soft frown.

"Thanks for chasing him away," Jane cut in, grinning at you.

"No problem," you mumbled around your breakfast.

It had been three years. Your twenty-first birthday was in a few days, but you couldn't bring yourself to care anymore. For two years, you were locked alone in a room, someone stopping by occasionally to drop food in through a hole in the ceiling. It broke you. Your demon half came out to try and protect you from the psychological torture, but now your emotions were simply repressed. Doing that was the only way to survive here.

Well, that and making friends. Clockwork was always there for your training lessons before, so you were already pretty close. Jane hated you at first since you were friends with Jeff, but Clockwork brought her around. As the years went by, you noticed that you had gained a bit of a following among Zalgo's pastas. Some of them seemed to prefer your kindness to his ruthlessness. At the very least, you had many of the greater Creepypastas on your side.

"(y/n)?" Clockwork said, her expression saying that she'd said it a few times.

"Sorry," you mumbled as you gathered your empty dishes into a pile. "What did you say?"

Jane rolled her eyes. "You okay? You're spacier than usual."

"Just thinking," you reply, stretching your arms above your head.

Clockwork nodded. "Reasonably. But I had an idea, if you'd like to hear it."

 **"(y/n),"** called a familiar voice. **"Come to my office for an assignment."**

You grit your teeth in annoyance, but Jane was bouncing excitedly. "You're finally getting a mission! You should be ecstatic!"

"I don't know if that is the right word to use," you reply, gathering your dishes and tossing them in the cleaning area before heading to your father's office.

On the way there, you caught a glance of your reflection in the huge windows that overlooked the training area. The image made you pause. You had allowed your soft (h/c) hair to grow out at Clockwork's request, but you usually tied it back so it wasn't in the way. The most surprising part was what your demon did to your body now that you had joined with her. You had grown quite a bit taller, and your body was now lean and well toned. A pair of coal black wings were constantly there, though they turned white and feathery whenever you tried to help someone. Your (e/c) eyes were sharp and fairly emotionless. They had to be to survive here. Another ink blob had formed over your right eye after you killed your first mortal, the swirling patterns beautiful against your skin. Whenever you needed to see clearer, the ink joined with your eye to make it a pure (f/c). It sharpened your sight and made throwing weapons easy and always accurate.

The only other thing that had changed was your wardrobe. You only had one outfit, but you had multiples of it. Clockwork and Jane had been insistent that you have a designated outfit like everyone else, so they had chosen it for you. It was all black, just like your demon wings. There was a black t-shirt that stuck tightly to you body and allowed your wings to work with little resistance. The shirt was joined by a pair of tight black pants and combat boots. You no longer wore gloves. They would just get destroyed when you needed your sword or claws.

There was one thing you never changed, though. A slightly worn necklace hung from your neck. A charm bracelet that had been repaired many times adorned your wrist. Across your back slung a black roll full of surgical equipment that was amazingly cared for, and a sparkling - not to mention deadly sharp - dagger hung from your waist on your not dominant side.

Shaking your head clear, you headed towards your father's office again. It was best not to keep him waiting.

 **"Come in,"** he called just before you knocked. Bastard couldn't even bother to be polite. He continued once you stood at attention in front of his desk. **"I need you to dispose of a Creepypasta."**

"Pardon?" you asked, legitimately surprised.

 **"He has disobeyed a direct order, so I want him gone. You are uniquely qualified for this mission,"** he added, seeming to be sickly pleased for some reason.

"Why would I be a better choice?" you question, gritting your sharpened teeth. You didn't _really_ want to kill anyone.

**"He is currently attacking the woods that belong to your old family."**

You cringe, hands twitching at the thought. Who would dare attack them?! "When can I leave?"

**"Go."**

Not waiting for anymore encouragement, you tore open your own portal right in his office before jumping through.

_Third POV_

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind for today," BEN gasped out as he glanced behind him. A squeak of terror left his throat at seeing that their pursuer was gaining.

"Do you think any of us planned this?!" Jeff growled, nearly tripping over a tree root.

Behind them, Pyramid Head was not giving any sort of relief. His huge sword was raised, cutting entire trees out of his way. It was Smile who had found the intruder, and now they were trying to corner him. The others were hopefully closing in, too. A cry of pain had BEN and Jeff sliding to a stop and staring at the other before turning to look behind them. A (f/c) hilted dagger had been thrown with enough force to topple their pursuer, the dagger sticking out of his shoulder.

Jeff's eyes widened imperceptibly. "No way... I know that knife."

The duo could hear the others drawing close as a flash of black and (h/c) grabbed the downed Creepypasta and flew him past them and into a clearing. Jeff and BEN followed with no hesitation. A pair of black wings were spread wide from the figure's back, the position of her arms suggesting that she was pinning him down. They could partially hear the others realizing that something had gone wrong and heading towards their location.

The wings curled into your back as you wrenched the dagger from his shoulder. "You made me get my favorite knife dirty," they heard you growl, strangely emotionless. You wiped the blood from the dagger onto your pants before slipping it into the sheath.

"(y/n)?" BEN managed, moving so that he could see you better, vaguely aware that Jeff was following. He gasped at the sight of you. Your sharpened teeth were bared at the creature below you, and your right eye was a pure (f/c). As they watched, the ink on your uncovered arm split into two and began creating the deadly claws they had only seen once before.

"You've made Zalgo very angry, Pyramid Head," you growled out, lowering one hand to push his head further into the ground. "You directly disobeyed his orders, you know? He ordered all of his people to not enter this forest or endanger those within. Who told you to do this?" When he didn't answer, the now larger group watched as you forced his head further into the ground. "If you don't tell me, I'm sure Lord Zalgo wouldn't mind me making your death slow. In fact, he would probably prefer that."

Everyone watching was speechless. You, who had let yourself be tortured for their safety, were now threatening to torture someone else just because they wouldn't give you a name! Your whole demeanor had changed from the sweet, hurting girl they knew, to this emotionless killing machine. What had Zalgo done to you?

As one of your claws began to carve an image into his back, the man finally gasped out, "Rake!"

You tensed, snarling loudly. "I should have known. That idiot hates me." A soft sigh escaped your lips as you stretched your arms above your head. "I don't have much of a choice in the matter, PH. You know that, right?" A grunt followed and you nodded. "Rest easy," you said under your breath, bringing your claws down and piercing his head. He wiggled for just a moment before finally laying still. Your claws didn't move as a (f/c) light lit up his body and familiar ink started moving up your arms. This time, it swirled out on the left side of your neck.

Sighing, you stood and willed the claws to return as ink upon your dominant hand. Your wings remained, as did your sharpened teeth. With a deep breath, the (f/c) color drained from your eye and retuned to the swirling pattern around it. You shifted your shoulders, the black roll that was slung across your back bumping into one of your wings. A wince overtook your face at the motion, but you soon returned to your emotionless expression before turning to walk off.

"Sis!"

Everyone noticed your muscles tense before you turned. "Yes?"

When your brother seemed at an odd loss of words, Slenderman cut in, [why don't you return to us, child?]

"I can't," you responded simply. "I have a deal to uphold. I merely came by to take care of an assignment."

_Your POV_

Your words stung even you. Seeing everyone again was forcing your emotions to start dredging up. You couldn't let that happen. It would ruin everything. Zalgo would probably lock you up again. Who knows how long it would be _this_ time.

A familiar rock song cut into the silence, causing everyone - including you - to start. With a grimace, you grabbed the special cell phone Zalgo had given you from your pocket, flipping it open. Glancing at those around you, you lifted it to your ear and answered.

"I'm on an assignment, Jane," you grumbled, noticing Jeff tense. "What is it?"

_"Clockwork has a really good idea. It could make you real happy, again."_

You frowned, wings twitching with your uncomfort. "I doubt that I'll ever be happy again, Jane," you replied, ignoring the horrified expressions of your old companions. "Besides, there's not much anyone can do for me at this point."

 _"You know that Zalgo is breaking you more and more everyday, (y/n). If this keeps up, he's going to make you his proxy!"_ Jane was sounding pretty annoyed at this point _. "Do you want to be his proxy?!"_

With a sigh, you started walking away, building energy in your free hand. "Of course I don't want to become Zalgo's proxy, Jane." This time, you notice Slenderman and _his_ proxies flinch. None of them wanted that for you. "Besides, I've managed to hold out this long. And don't you dare start with the whole 'you were locked in a room for two years' argument, either, Jane. I can hold out against him."

_"There's a way to kill him without the rest of us retaliating."_

You froze, the energy in your hand starting to spark. "Really?"

" _Clockwork and I are laying the groundwork. You can end this all tomorrow."_

"Just like that?"

_"It won't be easy."_

"Nothing is easy," you responded, tearing a portal through the air with the energy you collected. "I'm on my way back. See you soon, Jane."

_"Who'd you kill?"_

You frowned deeper, glancing back at the unmoving body on the ground - and purposely ignoring the breathing figures nearby. "PH. He made me kill PH."

Silence. Another sigh escaped before you snapped the phone shut and slid it back into your pocket. You didn't even wait for anyone else to speak to you before slipping through the portal and back to your new home.


	5. The Lord's End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter of the main story! After this, each chapter will be titled with Last Chapter: _____, letting you know who that particular ending chapter is with. I hope you enjoy the thrilling conclusion to the main story followed by the endings!
> 
> Old Notes:  
> (A/N: The last chapter before the endings... I'm gonna miss you guys a lot. This was really fun, so I might try another one since I have a few ideas still bouncing around. Let me know, so I can draft out my next story.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you in the endings!)

_Your POV_

You were in your private bathroom, standing before the mirror. Seeing your old friends had been making you think about yourself and how much you'd changed. For hell's sake, you'd _murdered_ someone in front of them! Granted, that person had tried to kill them, but still.

Poor PH.

He didn't deserve that, but it made sense that Rake would bully one of his group into doing something so dangerous just to get under your skin. No one got hurt, so you had a hard time finding the energy to go and maul Rake. As it were, you were exhausted. Clockwork and Jane were going to get a few things, so they told you to shower while they were gone. They had left you alone with your thoughts and the emotions that were trying to scramble out of the hole you'd tossed them into.

In the mirror, your (e/c) orbs stared back at you without any emotion, sticking out against the ink mark on your face, as well as the new one on your neck. Your (h/c) hair was drenched with water, making it hang limply around your head. Even though Clockwork had insisted you grow it out, it was times like this where you just wanted to trim it and start to look like your old self.

The wings and pointed teeth made that hard.

"(y/n)! Get out here! We've got a plan!"

You sighed softly, pulling your hair back so it was out of your face before emerging from the bathroom in your usual attire. Jane had flopped onto your bed, hands reaching out to grab the knife and sheath you had left on your bedside table. Clockwork gave her a pointed look, knowing how much it meant to you. A smile graced your face. At the very least, you would always have these two.

"So what's this plan?" you asked, moving across the room to strap the knife to your waist.

"It's called a Leadership Duel. It was created by our first leader, the one a couple before Lord Zalgo," Clockwork explained as she hopped onto your dresser so she could sit down. "The idea is that if at least five of us believe that our current leader is unfit, we can have this duel. We just need you to back us."

"It'll be fun," Jane cut in. "And we can get rid of Lord Zalgo forever."

You frowned lightly. There was clearly something that they weren't telling you, but Clockwork's expression said that she wasn't going to tell you much more. "Fine," you muttered, wanting nothing more than to sleep the events of the day away.

"Perfect!" Clockwork called, hopping from her seat. "You'll know what to do when the time comes, trust me. Now get some sleep. You'll need it."

As they left, you had but one thought in your mind, aside from the few things that you had to do before bed.

_'What have I gotten myself into?'_

~ Time Skip ~

You were sitting at breakfast, enjoying one of your favorite meals when Jane and Clockwork suddenly stood up. Quite a few people around the room did so as well, but they motioned you down when you tried to join them. Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, you watched as your two friends led the pack of Creepypastas to the head of the room, where Zalgo was watching everyone. His eyes narrowed as the pack approached.

"Lord Zalgo!" Clockwork yelled, lowering into a small bow. Those with her did the same. "We have a challenge. Those before you wish to activate the old rules and request that you take the Leadership Duel." At this, Clockwork stood tall once more. "There are more than enough of us for the motion to pass."

Zalgo looked livid. If looks could kill, the room would be full of bodies. **"I see that your numbers are enough. Are you aware of all of the results, then? Your winner will take my life, if they are even capable, and become the next leader."**

You were frozen in your seat. Whoever defeated him would lead all of the Creepypastas, bar those in the forest. It was a terrifying thought. No one should have that sort of power.

**"Who shall be your champion?"**

Clockwork took a visible breath. "We have discussed our options among ourselves for a long time. Our champion, and next leader of the Creepypastas, shall be Lady (y/n) (l/n)!"

You froze in your seat. "What?!" you squeaked out.

At Clockwork's insistent hand motions, you stood and started toward her. Once at her side, she pushed you just a little more forward and called out, "Lady (y/n) shall be our champion and leader. We trust her with our lives and fates!"

 **"So be it. Two are allowed to accompany your champion to the arena. Choose your two, champion. All others report to the seats of the training area. You have a show to watch."** Zalgo stood, his eyes glaring straight through you. **"I shall meet you there,** ** _champion._** **"**

As he left, many of the other pastas stopped by to give you a pat on the back or words of encouragement. Several glared at you, wanting nothing more than for Zalgo to continue leading them. One - Rake, of course - threatened to kill you if Zalgo didn't. Once they were all gone, Clockwork and Jane dragged you to one side of the arena. A reinforced version of your hunting outfit was there, and they got you into it while you were still dazed. You didn't get launched out of it until the duo had stepped back to admire their handiwork.

"What's this about me being the next leader of the Creepypastas?!" you yelled out, the familiar anger starting to scramble out of its hole. You got angry at Zalgo often, but never at your friends. "I knew that you were keeping something from me, but this is ridiculous!"

"Please calm down," Clockwork said softly, raising her hands in an appeasing gesture. "Other than Lord Zalgo, the leaders have always had a left and right hand. For you, that could be Jane and I. We would help you lead and give you plenty of time to be with your friends."

"Besides," Jane cut in, "you talked about that cottage you lived in as a kid. You could stick a portal in there and make it your office. No one has to get close to your friends."

You frowned, clenching your fists. "That's not the point! You want me to go out there and kill Zalgo! I'm not prepared!"

"You can do it," Clockwork said. Her voice was so full of confidence that you had a hard time contradicting her.

"Let your demon out fully. You can control her now, so it's not a problem."

With a sigh, you nodded. It was too late now, since everyone knew. That was probably why Clockwork did it like that. You took a deep breath. It wasn't long before your head throbbed as the horns came out. Your wings sharpened, the edges and points suddenly able to cut through flesh. Mostly, you'd rather be over prepared than under. You had barely beaten Zalgo all those years ago, and that had been because your demon was in control, not you. She was a much better fighter, but she wanted to see the world burn. You, on the other hand, did not. With that in mind, you allowed the ink around your eye to combine with said eye and sharpen your vision. Once the ink on your hand had become a sword, you were ready for battle.

"Be ready for anything, (y/n). Lord Zalgo will fight his best to keep you from winning," Clockwork said, her face grim. "Go for the kill. The Leadership Duel is a fight to the death, so don't hold back. We know you can do it, (y/n)."

"That's why we picked you as our champion," Jane finished. "Break a leg, (y/n). I look forward to working under you."

You watched as they left, smiling at you as brightly as they could manage. With a deep breath, you shoved the majority of your emotions into the hole and covered it under layers of the one remaining emotion. Anger. If anything could fuel your inner demon, it was how much you _hated_ Zalgo for what he'd done to you and your friends. When you won, your old friends would finally be safe from the other pastas. It was a nice thought, but the idea that Zalgo would kill them if he survived made your anger flare up again.

A voice cut through your thoughts, making your hand tighten around the slim blade in your hand, **"the Leadership Duel will now began. I, Lord Zalgo, accept the challenge given to me, and shall fight the half-demon champion that the challengers have chosen. There are no rules, as many of you know. Use what you have."**

Your lips curled a little at what he called you. He was trying to get a rise out of you.

And it was working.

**"Emerge,** **_champion_ ** **. Our battle shall began."**

Taking another deep breath, you walked out of the preparation room and into the arena. All of the training equipment had been cleared, leaving the entire place empty aside from you and your opponent. The surrounding seats were filled to the brim with Creepypastas. In the special section usually reserved for Zalgo sat five sub leaders, those that ran groups separate from the estate but still under Zalgo's control. He must have pulled them through a portal to watch the match.

 **"You have made a grave mistake, daughter,"** Zalgo growled out, raising his sword. **"When I win, I will make you my proxy. Then I will order you to kill your friends. They shall all die by your hand."**

"I will not lose to you, Lord Zalgo. There is too much at stake." With those words, you raised the sword and pointed it toward him. "You shall die today, father!"

You charge forward, nimbly dodging to the side when Zalgo swiped at you with his flaming sword. Your own sword lashed out in retaliation, though he merely side-stepped it. A low snarl left your mouth, and you lowered yourself to the dirt, your wings taut. It was something you'd learned long ago. With the use of your wings, you could skim across the ground. They also enabled you to dodge without the use of your legs.

When Zalgo smirked and lunged, you used your wings to fly out of his reach. As you went back, your sword turned into ink upon your dominant hand and you swung the black roll that rested between your wings to your side. With practiced grace, you slipped out one of the many scalpels Eyeless Jack had gotten you and flung it forward. Zalgo managed to dodge the first one, but the second - aided by the ink in your right eye - shot right into his shoulder. A hiss of pain escaped his mouth as he ripped it out, smashing it within his grip. You winced. You _liked_ that scalpel. It was a _gift._

Baring your teeth at the demon, you slipped out two more scalpels with your dominant hand, grabbing a spool of stitch thread with your free one. With a single twitch, your wings shot you forward, one of the scalpels going ahead and forcing him to dodge to your left. You grinned. Just like a mouse in a trap, he had fallen for the bait. You stabbed the second scalpel through the spool, throwing it so hard that it embedded itself into the ground. That wouldn't be moving anytime soon. With the other end of the string in your hand you flew around Zalgo, close enough to where he was able to strike at you but far enough so that you could easily dodge.

**"Running will only prolong the inevitable, daughter."**

"Who's running?" you respond, pointed teeth gleaming with your grin. You jumped back, the thread that you had replaced with a super thin metal wire a few months prior flying up and pinning Zalgo's arms to his body. His sword tumbled from his grip as he gave a gasp of surprise. Flapping your wings as hard as they would go, you pulled him away from the flaming object at his feet. The wire tore through his armor and skin, a hiss of pain escaping his lips as the scent of demon blood filled your nose.

You'd already done more damage than he had ever imagined you doing.

**"Do not get cocky, daughter."**

With a grunt, Zalgo pushed against the wire until it snapped and fell to the ground, useless. You couldn't believe it. That wire was made to be able to hold back demons. Even _you_ couldn't break it. A hiss left his throat as his eyes shot around the field. It didn't take long for you to figure out why. He was looking for his sword. You'd already used one of your best attacks, so it would be _really_ bad if he managed to get a hold of his weapon again.

Letting your instincts take over, the ink on your dominant hand split into two and started to form claws as you lunged forward. By the time you noticed his smirk, it was too late. One large claw shot forward, gripping your neck and lifting you above the ground. Your wings flapped powerfully, catching Zalgo's sides and making his bleeding get worse. He didn't seem to care, as his hand merely tightened its grip. Your necklace snapped, falling to your father's feet.

**"You are costing me much, daughter. I hope you do not expect me to go easy on you once this whole mess has been dealt with."**

From the corner of your eye, on the lower section of the seats, you noticed Jane and Clockwork practically leaning over the edge. The worry on their faces was evident, and it made your heart hurt a little. Guilt welled up within you, mixing with the anger as the latter began to ebb away. No matter how much you clawed at the hand lifting you, it didn't let up in the slightest. Two of your best friends had placed their faith in you, and there was nothing you could do.

But you wanted to do _something_. You wanted to fight back and avenge your friends for everything the bastard had done to them.

With these thoughts in mind, you barely noticed the burning sensation on your neck until it forced your brain to focus on it. The ink had covered Zalgo's mark, and the pain meant that it was ready to show what it was meant to do. That ink in particular was the life force of PH that you had absorbed after you'd killed him. He had always been fairly kind to you, despite the fact that he was one of Rake's underlings. If PH's life force was willing to help, you certainly weren't going to turn it down.

Trying to ignore the fact that you couldn't breathe, you focused on the mark. A familiar burning sensation ran down your spine as the power joined with you fully, and - moments later - an uncomfortably hot warmth washed over your body. Zalgo let loose a shout of pain, dropping you to the dirt ground. Warm air rushed into your lungs, and you gladly welcomed it. If you had fallen unconscious, the match probably would have ended. And you'd have become your father's proxy.

Hearing the sound of a sword being lifted off the ground, you stood up and took stock of your current situation. Your wings were a little sore from flailing about earlier, but they were still usable. The black roll only had a couple instruments left, none of them being scalpels. Your favorite knife still hung at your side, and none of your demon features had left. There was only one problem, really.

_You were on fire._

The fire wasn't burning you, but it wasn't very comfortable either. None of your clothes or weapons were seeming to be damaged by it, and that was what finally ticked you off as to what it was. The fire was the ink upon on your neck. Somehow, PH's life force had created a fire shield for you, though it didn't seem to be that strong. Even now, you could feel the fire fading. As the warmth fully faded, a familiar tingle upon your neck told you that it had returned to being ink. Taking a deep breath, you willed the ink upon your hand to become claws, and you raised your eyes to stare down your opponent.

**"That is new. You absorbed the life energy of the idiot Creepypasta, then?"**

You ground your pointed teeth. "Do not talk of him like that! He did not deserve to die!" You lowered into a fighting stance, tossing the black roll to the side so it wouldn't get in the way. "There is only one _creature_ here that deserves to die, and that is you!" You shot forward, catching him off guard with your speed. That speed surprised you a bit too.

The next couple minutes of the fight were a flurry of claws, Zalgo's sword being knocked out of his hands within seconds. No one really knew where the sudden power came from, but you were fairly sure that it came from your _determination_ to keep everyone safe. You wouldn't let Jane and Clockwork suffer for trusting you. You wouldn't let Sylia and Daniel die just for adopting you. You wouldn't let Zalgo make you kill your old friends just because you were too _weak_.

You wouldn't.

You couldn't.

Your wings beat powerfully, pushing you into Zalgo as his claws tore through your side. With a hiss of pain, you forced him to the ground so you were straddling him. Both of your claws tore into his arms so that he couldn't move them at all. Once you were sure that he couldn't fight back, you willed your claws away.

"I fought with my friends by my side," you said, reaching for the dagger at your belt. As you lifted the weapon, you noticed that your charm bracelet had broken off during the fight. The thought made your heart hurt. "You fight simply because you believe yourself to be stronger than others. I fight to protect those that I love." Taking a deep breath, you raised the knife so that it was above his head. For the first time in your life, you saw genuine fear in his eyes. Fear of death. "And with my friends, I shall end your life."

You brought the knife down, stabbing it straight through his face and pressing down until his skull broke and the knife tip pierced the ground. Silence ruled around you as the demon beneath you writhed for a few moments before the light of his life force surrounded him and entered you. The amount of power was surprisingly painful as it wound its way up your arms and to your back, swirling around your wings. A glance back revealed that the ink this time was white, contrasting against the black of your wings as it swirled around. It didn't seem to be able to settle, and continued circling around as if it were decided what it wanted to do.

The sound of someone hitting dirt made you launch to your feet, though you were immediately light headed. Clockwork was by your side in an instant, lifting your arm.

"The Leadership Duel has ended. All hail Lady (y/n)!"

 _"All hail Lady (y/n)!"_ echoed throughout the arena.

"You did it," your friend whispered in your ear. "You've saved your friends and killed your tormentor. How do you feel?"

Your vision was getting blurry, and you had a hard time forming a coherent thought. The scent of your own blood ruled over everything else, and you said the first thing that came to mind. "Get them out of here and get Slenderman. He'll know how to help."

"Help what?" Clockwork asked, stepping back so she could get a good look you. The last thing you saw was the look of horror that crossed her face as she started calling out orders.

Then, your world faded to black.

_Third POV_

Everyone was sitting down for lunch, oddly sedated. During dinner the previous night, long after they'd seen you kill one of Zalgo's Creepypastas under the demon's orders, a bright golden light had spread throughout the forest. None of them were able to find a single trace of you, aside from a new rune that had been burned into the ground outside. While they were moping about, you had been trying to protect them.

Now, just as Slenderman had finished dishing out everyone's meals, a large _crack_ sounded from just outside. Those familiar with the noise rushed outside, shocked when they saw someone that was most definitely _not_ you. Clockwork stood there, looking around in interest. Her face hardened when she saw them, and she gave a low bow.

"Good day," she called.

"What the hell does Zalgo want now?!" Jeff called out, grabbing his knife.

"He's already taken so damn much from us!" Laughing Jack yelled, referring to you.

"How did you even get in here?" Eyeless Jack asked, more worried about the fact that someone had managed to get past your barrier.

Clockwork calmly held up a vial filled with a dark red liquid. "This contains the blood of the one who created the rune," she explained, ignoring their horrified expressions. "It allows one to cross any barrier they have created."

Slenderman stepped forward, holding up a hand to keep the others back. [What does Zalgo wish from us? If he wanted to attack, he would have sent more than just you.]

"I'll ignore that second comment," Clockwork said dryly. "Besides, there is something more important going on right now."

[And that is?]

"Zalgo is dead."

Everyone but the speaker of the comment froze, unable to contain their surprise. Zalgo was stronger than Slender and his brother's combined, so none of them had ever really entertained the thought of him being able to die.

[How?] Slenderman managed, his voice barely projecting in his shock.

"The Leadership Duel," she explained, noting the surprise on Slender and his proxies. Figures that they would know. "We chose a champion, and she killed Zalgo. Of course, that brings me to something much more important."

"Who could possibly beat Zalgo?" Masky asked, shaking his head. "I don't believe you. This could easily be a trap."

Clockwork frowned. "You will have to go by my word."

"Scratch that," Jeff cut in. "What the hell does this have to do with us?"

"Our new leader is in danger. She was severely injured by Zalgo."

"And why should we care again?" Jeff asked, rolling his eyes.

Clockwork scrunched up her nose in distaste before turning to look at Slenderman. "I am here under the orders of our new leader, Lady (y/n)." She rolled her good eye when everyone just stared at her in shock. "I would have thought that you figured it out already." Sighing softly, she continued, "I do not have time for games. As I said earlier, Zalgo severely injured her. She is dying." It seemed that none of the Creepypastas were breathing. "At the very least, she is bleeding out. Before she lost consciousness, she gave us orders. She told me to get Slenderman." Clockwork turned back to the faceless man. "(y/n) holds a lot of trust in you. She seemed to believe that if anyone knew how to save her, it would be you."

The last statement seemed to launch Slenderman out of his stupor. He teleported into the mansion for a moment, returning with EJ and Xavier's equipment. Two tentacles reached out to grab the two. He didn't speak, but everyone got the message. There was no way he was going to let you die.

~ Time Skip ~

Slenderman, EJ, and Xavier led the pack as Clockwork showed everyone to your new room area. Your 'room' - Zalgo's old room - actually consisted of a main bedroom and five guest bedrooms connected to that. Each one had its own bathroom, and an office connected to both the main room and the hallway. Most of the time, the door leading to the main room was locked since it was the leader's personal area. When they reached the door, Jeff's hand went to his knife.

Jane was leaning against the door to the main room, a few bags of blood hanging from her hands. When she noticed everyone approaching, she stood tall. "I got the other pastas out of here as per Lady (y/n)'s order. I also brought these. She's going to need the blood." Jane tossed the blood packs at Slenderman, who easily caught them. She started to turn before looking back at them. "Listen here, you forest weirdos. I hate you all." Turning her gaze to one person in particular, Jane added, "especially you, Jeff. But no matter how much I hate you, I really like (y/n). If you don't save her, I will personally make sure that every pasta out there hunts you all down." With that, Jane turned her gaze to Clockwork. "I'll keep them away as long as I can."

"Thank you," Clockwork called after the other girl's retreating figure before turning back to the group. "I will only allow those that are going to patch her up inside. You are going to need a lot of concentration." When the three stepped forward, Clockwork moved to open the door before pausing. "Prepare yourselves. It is... not pretty." Sighing, the girl opened the door so that the three could get inside. If the scent of blood and the way Slenderman, EJ, _and_ Xavier seemed horrified were any indication, it would be a miracle if you made it out alive.


	6. Last Chapter: Jeff the Killer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your romantic ending with Jeff the Killer!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of many endings that I've written. If you're not a fan of Jeff, don't worry, there are others on the way!

_Your POV_

Your head was _killing_ you. So was your entire abdomen. Both of your wings were tucked into your back, the way that you couldn't move them suggesting that they were bound there. You even had a hard time getting in touch with your ink. It seemed to be avoiding you. Still, as your mind started to clear, only one thought crossed your mind.

_What happened?_

Everything after your wire attack was a sort of blur. You couldn't figure out why you were unable to move your body. It felt like lead. What was really worrying you was the fact that your wings were bound. For the past year, those wings had done a lot for you. You _never_ fought without them. Zalgo knew that. At that thought, you started, wincing a little. Had you lost? Was Zalgo keeping you locked up so that you could be awake when he forced you become his proxy?

Your anxiety rose enough that you were soon able to open your eyes. The lights in the room burned so badly that your eyes immediately shut. It took a few tries for you to manage to keep your eyes open. You were in Zalgo's room, but he was nowhere in sight. In fact, the only other person in the room was, to your shock, Jeff. His own blue eyes were staring at you intently, as if he were were afraid that you might disappear any moment.

"Jeff?" you croaked out, surprised that your voice was so scratchy. If Jeff was here, did that mean that you'd won?

"(y/n)...?" he said under his breath, eyes starting to glisten.

Was Jeff crying? He never cried. Well, you'd only seen him cry once. That was when you and he were helping with dinner and he was cutting onions.

"You're alive," he gasped out, effectively drawing your attention back to him. Tears were running down his face in streams, and it made you wonder just how bad your condition was. "You're alive!" he called, shoulders shaking as he rubbed away the tears.

A few crashes sounded from the other rooms. You turned your head to look at the doors, wincing at the pain in your neck. You back muscles felt like someone had taken a grater to them, and it wasn't helping your neck muscles at all. A slight twitch of your arms confirmed that the pain was affecting them too. Seconds after this realization, all five doors were slammed open. It took a moment for you to realize that all of your old friends stood in the doorways, most of them in shock.

"Good morning," you croak, managing a weak grin. Everyone was at your side before you finished, their voices overlapping as they tried to ask you questions. You got the gist of what they wanted to know. "I'm okay," you say, silencing them all.

[Are you really?] Slender asked with a tilt of his head. For just a moment, he reminded you of a bird.

"Doubtful," Xavier spoke up from his spot at the foot of the bed. "I'm betting that she's actually in a lot of pain."

"I agree," Eyeless Jack hummed. "There's no way she's 'fine'."

You felt a twinge of irritation at their statements. Sure, they _were_ true, but it didn't mean that they had to point it out. Besides, your wings were sore from being bound incorrectly. That was probably where the pain was coming from. With that thought in mind, you asked, "can someone unwrap my wings? You wrapped them wrong."

Jeff was immediately at your side, using his knife to cut the bindings off. It was around this time that you were glad there was a separate bandage around your chest and stomach so that you weren't completely indecent. As your wings were freed, you sat up a bit painfully. With a bit of a wince, you stretched out your wings and glanced back. The sight seemed to shock the others as well. Instead of just your demon wings, there were two pairs. Higher up on your back rested the familiar demon wings. Slightly lower, and inward a little more, were a pair of bright white angel wings.

"What the hell?" you mumbled, carefully shifting the wings. They moved in tandem, and it just weirded you out more. After concentrating for a moment, the wings rejoined your back. You could recognize the pain as the familiar ink swirled across your back. It must have been black and white, the combination of your life force and Zalgo's. Most of the time, the ink joining with you didn't hurt at all. Sometimes there was a vague discomfort. It seemed that Zalgo was cursing you from beyond the grave. Bastard.

You were launched out of your thoughts when an amused sounding Laughing Jack asked, "Jeff? Are you _crying_?"

"Of course not!" the killer shot back, glaring at the monochrome man indignantly. "Why the hell would I be crying?!"

"Because you're a stupid baby," said a feminine voice coming from the direction of the hallway.

A soft smile graced your face as everyone but Jeff moved so you could see your friend. "Hey, Jane," you croaked out.

"Nice to see you again, demon girl," she said as she walked over, pointedly ignoring the man beside your bed. "Can you stand up?"

Your smile left as you tested your limbs. They all hurt like hell, but you managed to hide your wince from everyone. Well, Jeff and Jane noticed. "Probably," you decided.

The woman nodded. "Good. Sorry to cut this reunion short, but you have a meeting."

"A meeting?" you asked with a frown. "What are you talking about?"

"With the sub leaders," she replied with a frown of her own. "Don't you remember?"

"I don't remember much, actually. I mean, I assumed that I must have beat Zalgo since everyone is here, but I don't really remember much after I used those demon wires."

Jane winced. "Oh." She sighed before scratching the back of her neck. "You must have been able to draw a few other conclusions, then."

"Of course," you respond, though you had been avoiding thinking much about it. "If I killed Zalgo, then that means I'm the leader of you guys, right?" You caught the others tensing at your words. Maybe they had been avoiding it, too. "I'm assuming that's what you're talking about."

Jane let loose a relieved breath. "Good. Now we have to go. They've been waiting to see you to receive their new orders and rules."

You scrunched your nose at the thought. "New orders? I just woke up," you reply, feeling your voice start to work normally again.

"Just tell them to go about as usual. You could probably mention a few things that you don't want them doing."

"Like what?"

"Zalgo was very specific about punishment, as I'm sure you're aware," Jane answered, nodding in sympathy when you cringed. "I'm assuming you'd like to do away with isolation and torture. You'll need to tell them that yourself. Clockwork and I don't really have that much power. Not without you listing us as the left and right hands."

[Excuse me,] Slenderman cut in. [Are you sure (y/n) even wants this job?]

"We don't really have a choice in the matter," said another familiar voice.

"Clockwork!" you called, grinning wide.

The girl walked in, smiling widely at you. "Lady (y/n). I'm very glad to see that my plan didn't kill you. I was concerned you were going to leave us before we had a chance to thank you." She gave you a soft pat on the head. "Thanks, by the way. Nearly all of us are glad to be away with Zalgo. You looked pretty terrifying out there, by the way. I don't think anyone will be willing to challenge you."

"Terrifying?" you heard Toby ask from his spot across the room.

Jane suddenly became very animated. "You should have seen it! She really looked like a demon!" You winced. "With the horns and claws, not to mention those black wings! Flinging things around and catching on fire-"

"I caught on fire?!" you gasped out. Seconds later, you called out in pain and grabbed your head. The memories rushed back, and when you looked up once more, everyone was staring at you with worry. You managed a weak smile. "I guess I did catch on fire."

"I didn't see any burn marks," Xavier cut in.

"I wondered about that," Clockwork said, rubbing her chin in thought. "I had thought that it was Zalgo trying to burn you."

You grin, holding out one of your arms, palm up. With a deep breath, you willed the ink upon your neck to head down to your hand and activate. It did as asked, though the fire creeped up your arm. "I was actually pretty lucky. It usually takes me a few months to find out what the ink does." With that, you willed the ink to return to your neck.

"Didn't you get that back in the woods?" EJ asked, tilting his head curiously.

"Oh, yeah," you reply, face falling.

Clockwork cut in, "you can discuss exactly what that is later. We need you to meet with the sub leaders."

"Right," you respond, clenching your teeth in pain as you swung your legs over the edge of the bed and stood. Jeff looked ready to jump forward and catch you any moment, but you managed to stand. With a small wave and a promise to be back soon, you took Jane's offered arm and headed off to the meeting.

_Third POV_

"You were crying," BEN suddenly says, bursting out laughing once you were far enough away.

"No I wasn't. Shut up," Jeff growled back.

EJ joined BEN, clutching his stomach. "You totally were! I can't believe it."

Slenderman sighed softly at their reactions, though his own shaking shoulders betrayed him. [Now that we know she is safe, we should head back to the mansion.] He noticed Jeff tense much more than the others. [It is not safe for us here. Especially for a mortal like Xavier. Jeff?]

"What?"

[Please stay here and keep on eye on her. I believe it will do the child some good.] Privately, Slenderman added, [besides, you clearly wish for some alone time.]

Jeff's face and ears started to go bright red, and he almost denied it before realizing that he'd have to explain what 'it' was to everyone else. Instead, he settled for nodding and avoiding anyone's gaze. _'Stupid faceless bastard. Jumping to conclusions like that.'_

Slenderman chuckled, and Jeff suddenly remembered that the man could read thoughts too. Instead of saying anything, Slenderman merely opened up his own portal, practically forcing everyone through it. Jeff had no doubt that he'd be coming back every few hours to check up on her now that he knew where to portal to.

_Your POV_

It had been a couple weeks now. Jeff still hadn't left your side for any extended length, and you pretty sure he was only willing to let you go alone to your meetings because Jane threatened him. As it were, he stayed by your bedside and helped you with anything you needed. At first it was a little stifling, but you had started to like having him always there. One night, you'd had a particularly bad nightmare and woke up on fire and screaming. Jeff had run in from his guest bed and hugged you, despite the fact that you were flaming. Luckily, your body seemed to know that you didn't want to hurt him, so the fire didn't do anything. He slept next to your bed after that. Every night.

Oddly enough, you liked having him always there.

And it was that thought that made you realize you were starting to like him. Sure, despite him trying to stab you as a kid, you'd always liked him the most. He never skirted around an issue. He was ridiculously blunt, and it was refreshing considering everyone else always tried to spare your feelings. Sure, Jeff was still the same killer who threatened to murder anyone who came within three feet of you (including Clockwork and Jane), but he never tried to hurt you. He'd even cleaned and sharpened the knife you used to end Zalgo's life. It was resting on your bedside table beside the roll of surgical equipment that had been collected. EJ had sent the replacements for everything that had broken, but Jeff seemed to be happier whenever you reached for his knife first.

Now, today was your last day within the confines of what had been your prison for the last three years. You'd be working from the mansion, and once you were completely healed, you'd be using your grandfather's cottage as your office. Slenderman had offered to make you an office within the house, but you didn't want the non-mansion Creepypastas anywhere near those in the forest.

Especially Rake.

Jeff walked in from the master bathroom, shifting his bloodstained sweatshirt to get comfortable. His grin widened when he saw that you were awake and dressed. "Ready to go?" he asked.

You stood up from your seat on the bed, smiling in response. "Yup. Clockwork and Jane are getting all of my paperwork sorted, and they have blood vials so they can bring it to me." Your side practically screamed in protest as you reached down to pick up your bag of clothes. Jeff swooped down and grabbed it before you could. He smirked a little at your resulting glare. "Fine. Be like that." You huffed before turning to attach the knife and its sheath to your waist. Once the black roll was laid between your shoulder blades, you turned and smiled at the killer beside you. "Let's go."

As you tried to turn and rip a portal to the forest, Jeff grabbed your wrist. He held a small bag in front of your eyes, letting it swing back and forth. He just grinned wider at your confused expression. Shrugging, you snatched the bag from his grip and opened it. A gasp rose in your throat. Inside was the necklace and bracelet - LJ and Offenderman respectively - had given you. Both had been fixed up so that you could wear them again. Feeling your emotions get the better of you, something that had been happening a lot more now that you'd let them out again, you tuned around and tossed your arms around Jeff. Tears fell from your eyes as you just hugged him tighter. You were about to pull away when Jeff seemed to overcome his own shock and hugged you back. Pain flared where he grabbed you, but you couldn't bring yourself to care.

When your crying had finally subsided, you pulled away. "Sorry. I just thought that I wouldn't be able to go back and show everyone that I always treasured what you'd given me. It's just that Lord Zalgo broke it and-"

"You don't need to call him that anymore," Jeff interrupted. "He doesn't have any control over you anymore."

You smiled up at him, wiping away the remaining tears. "Right."

"And don't be sorry," he added, looking away as his face and ears reddened. "I kill people who say things they don't need to."

An honest laugh escaped your mouth as you looked at him. That clearly wasn't what he meant to say, but you thought it sounded remarkably _him_. "Shall we go?" you asked with a sniffle, tucking the bag into your pocket. As he turned to you, you held out your left hand. He hesitated for a moment before taking it. With a final grin, you brought your gaze forward and tore a portal through the air before stepping through.

The front doors to the mansion were torn open as the portal behind you closed. Jeff immediately released your hand as a couple of the others came out. Masky and Hoodie grabbed your stuff from Jeff, both exchanging a look with him before walking back into the house. LJ practically threw a get well bag of candy of you, and your resulting flinch was a little painful. Tearing open space was actually a bit painful, as well as tiring, and you couldn't wait to lay down again.

Jeff seemed to realize this, as he whispered something to LJ, who nodded enthusiastically before rushing inside. The grinning killer at your side pushed you towards the house, running ahead to open doors for you and lead you to your destination. You were a bit confused when he walked past your room, but you followed nonetheless. The only thing that made you pause on the way was when you caught a glimpse of yourself in a window you passed.

There were deep bags under your eyes, likely caused by your lack of sleep and nightmares. Your cheeks were sunken in a little, and you had lost a lot of weight. Jeff hadn't figured it out quite yet, but you'd been tearing open tiny portals to throw away most of your food. You hadn't been very hungry recently, and you knew he'd try to force you to eat. It wasn't a very pleasant thought. Now that you were back at the mansion, you'd probably be eating with everyone. They'd all figure out you hadn't been eating. Damn.

You shook those thoughts out of your head; you could worry about that when the time came. For now, Jeff was looking back at you in confusion. Managing a small smile, you continued following him until he stopped in front of a white door near the end of the hallway that was covered in red splatters. Wasn't this...?

Jeff opened the door, letting you through before shutting it behind him. You could see your bags at the edge of the bed. "You'll be staying with me until you've fully healed."

"I will?"

"Yeah," Jeff responded, and you could tell that his face was a little red. "Go ahead and lay down. You must be exhausted. I'll sleep on the floor."

"That's not fair," you respond, plopping down on the bed and wincing when the motion jostled your side. "It's your room."

"It's not like I'm going to make you sleep on the floor."

"You wouldn't be forcing me to. I want to."

Jeff, who had been playing with something on his desk, turned to glare at you. "You're sleeping on the bed."

You sighed softly, kicking off your sneakers. "Fine. I know how stubborn you can be." With that, you closed your eyes and leaned against the headboard.

Seconds later, the bed dipped a little as Jeff sat beside you. "Do you really have to lead the other Creepypastas?"

"Yes," you answer, not even bothering to open your eyes. "I'm the strongest, so that means no one can overtake me. The next strongest would probably be the Rake, and heaven forbid he takes over."

"Clockwork could do it."

"She doesn't want to."

"Jane?"

"Forget it, Jeff. I'm just as stubborn as you, you know that. This is something I want to do. Besides, the sub leaders are terrified of me since I managed to kill Zalgo. No one is going to challenge me." You cracked open an eye, immediately noticing that Jeff was getting angrier. "It's okay, Jeff. I've set Clockwork and Jane as my left and right hands, so I don't even have to do that much."

Jeff seemed to relax a little at that, but he probably had some pent up frustration since he hadn't killed for the past few weeks. "Mind telling me something, then?"

"Sure."

"Promise you'll tell me?"

You finally opened both eyes, sitting up despite the pain in your side. "I guess. What is it?"

"Who bullied you?"

All of your muscles simultaneously tensed at the motion, and your side screamed as pain rushed over it. You should have known that Xavier would say something about your old bullies. They had been torturing you ever since middle school, but you had done your best to ignore them. Sure, they pushed you over the mental edge a few times, but at least by bullying you, they left other people alone. And they had graduated when you did (sort of, considering you apparently still got your diploma despite the fact that you went missing), so it's wasn't like they could really bully anyone else. They were probably in jail.

"Jeff," you say with a bit of a sigh, "don't kill them."

"That's not an answer."

"Jeff," you repeat, this time adding a note of warning to your voice. Sure, they had made your life miserable, but at least it was _only_ your life.

"You promised you'd tell me."

A sigh escaped your lips. "Can you promise me that you won't kill them?"

"No," came the response. No hesitation.

"That was three years ago, Jeff. What would killing them now do?"

Suddenly, Jeff's eyes shot up to yours and his arms rose as he gripped your shoulder almost painfully. "It _doesn't matter_! They need to die for what they did, and I'm going to kill them myself!"

Another sigh managed to escape, and you had a hard time keeping back a second. You _had_ to tell him. You'd promised. With that thought in mind, you listened off your three tormentors. As you pretended to sleep that night, Jeff disappeared. He showed up early the next morning, covered in blood from head to toe. The scent of the blood registered as most definitely human, but you tried to ignore it. There was no use dwelling on it. At least he was trying to protect you. You didn't have to know how much he'd inevitably tortured them.

~ Time Skip ~

A few days later, you were finally forced to sleep. Within an hour, you woke up with a scream. You'd had another nightmare. This time, it had focused around Zalgo not really being dead, as most of them did. He'd come to the mansion and killed Jeff in front of you. The thought itself was horrifying, but Zalgo had then killed you with Jeff's knife. The dream replayed in your head twice before you managed to lock eyes with Jeff, who was shaking your shoulders in an attempt to get you to snap out of it. His eyes were full of sleep, and the eye cover he used to sleep was stuck in his hair. It took a moment to realize that you were still screaming. The sound cut off with a sharp intake of breath followed by sobbing. Jeff sat beside you and held you while your tears stained the sweatshirt that he had neglected to take off that night.

"I'm sorry," you repeated over and over again. Along with the dream replaying, you felt horrible for waking him up in the first place. He never slept that well.

"Stop apologizing," he growled back, effectively ending your mantra. The fingers of one hand were rubbing your head, trying to calm you. As your sobs subsided, Jeff stood up. "I'll get you something to drink," he said with a yawn.

One of your arms shot out, grabbing his wrist. "Please don't go," you mutter, eyes tightly shut to keep more tears from escaping. Jeff hesitated before sitting next to you. He tensed even more when you pulled him down beside you and cuddled into his chest.

You didn't have anymore nightmares, and Jeff was dead asleep beside you the next morning.

~ Time Skip ~

You yawned loudly, walking out of the cottage. You'd been spending all morning setting it up for use as your office. In a week, you'd be heading back to visit Daniel and Sylia with Xavier. While out in the 'real' world, Xavier would be passing over ownership of the forest to you, since the state had to pass it to someone after you'd been gone for a year. Daniel gave it to Xavier since you were closest to him. Regardless, you'd finished setting up your office, even if you had to keep taking breaks. And you were lucky. You'd missed lunch, so no one would start asking why you weren't eating everything. It was hard enough giving some of your food to Smile with no one noticing.

You were launched out of your thoughts when you heard a throat clearing behind you. "Hey, Jeff," you called without looking. Sleeping in the same bed every night meant that you had recognized his scent.

"How do you always know that it's me?"

"Demon nose," you reply with a noncommittal wave of your hand as you turned to look at him. He had a bag slung over his shoulder. "What's up?"

"Slendy told me to bring you lunch," he replied. "I figured we could eat together."

You narrowed your eyes a little, but smiled nonetheless. Figures that Slenderman had probably noticed that you weren't eating. It wasn't like you could tell when he was looking at you. "Cool. Want to eat out here?" you asked, gesturing toward the wooden table you'd moved out and set up outside.

Jeff nodded, tossing the bag onto the table and taking out a few containers of food. Your face brightened, and for the fist time since you'd awoken, your stomach growled. It was your favorite. Slenderman must have been trying to coax you into eating more.

It was working.

Most of lunch went by silently while Jeff half-watched you eat. The way he was doing so meant that Slenderman had probably told him that you hadn't been eating right. Most of the way through the meal, Jeff started to focus more on his food. Apparently, the way you were inhaling _your_ food suggested that he knew you were finally eating. As you started cleaning, Jeff cleared his throat.

"Yes?" you asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Masky and Hoodie were talking about moving your stuff to your room," he said, refusing to meet your gaze.

A frown overtook your face as you continued to clean up. "Oh."

"I tried telling them not to bother, but they told me to consider your opinion and I said that you'd say the same thing."

You froze, turning to look at him with amusement. You thought that he'd been waiting to kick you out of his room. "Oh did you now?" you questioned, grinning. When Jeff didn't respond, a soft sigh left your mouth. "If I'm being honest," you mutter, turning away to toss the containers into the garbage, "then they can screw off and leave my stuff right where it is."

Behind you, Jeff stood up so fast that his chair fell to the ground. "You'd better stay," he muttered under his breath darkly. "You're warm."

A small chuckle left your lips. "I was actually worried that you couldn't wait to get me out of your room so you could have it to yourself," you reply. "I'm glad that you don't want me out."

"Of course I want you to stay," he said so quietly that anyone with normal hearing wouldn't have heard him. Speaking up, he added, "now that you've healed, are you going to go out killing?"

"Probably not. I don't like absorbing life force. It's weird. I might go with someone else and watch their backs, though. Might go with different people depending on the scenario."

Jeff walked up, grabbing your shoulder and making you turn around. He grabbed the knife he gave to you all those years ago and flipped it around so he was holding the handle out to you. "Come with me. Every time."

"Pardon?"

A soft pink started to take over his face. "I want to kill by your side forever."

Your brain screeched to a halt. Was he... asking you out or proposing? Because it could really be either. You assumed that it was the first, but still. Never once had you imagined that Jeff was _this_ awkward when it came to romance.

"Are you gonna give me an answer?" Jeff asked, his nervousness translating to anger.

"You didn't give me a question," you finally croaked out, wincing once the words left your mouth. That was _not_ what you meant to say.

"Just take the damn knife back and go out with me," he grumbled.

Wordlessly, you reached out and grabbed the knife. Before you could slip it back into its sheath, Jeff sighed in relief and wrapped you into a hug. "Never took you for the cuddly type," you mumbled, returning the hug.

"Shut up," he growled back. "Stop ruining the moment."

You guys stayed like that for a few minutes, and when you walked back hand in hand, all of the others gave him hell. You got a kick out of it, especially when he started chasing BEN with his knife flailing around. Masky and Hoodie promised that they'd kill him if he hurt you. It reminded you of how awesome your family was.

But by far, Jane's was the best reaction.

One week after you and Jeff had started dating, Jane and Clockwork had shown up in your room with an emergency. They hadn't bothered knocking, and you were glad that you slept closer to the door (Jeff was worried someone - Rake -might come in through the window to try and hurt you) because they didn't notice Jeff right away.

"Sign this," Jane said, thrusting a paper and pen towards you.

"Pardon?" you asked, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from your eyes. It was a little awkward since Jeff was still gripping onto your waist with a death grip.

"It's allowing us to punish Rake for trying to get one of our vials so he could attack you."

Jeff's arms, despite him being half asleep, tightened around your waist.

"Okay," you mumbled, signing the sheet. "Anything else?"

Though Jane started to leave, Clockwork spoke up, "this doesn't look like it would be your room." Jane froze, turning to look at you with a raised eyebrow.

"That's 'cause it's not," Jeff mumbled, sitting up and practically draping himself over your back. "Can you leave?" he asked, pushing up his eye cover so he could glare at them. "We were trying to sleep."

Clockwork barely held back a chuckle at the situation, but Jane looked livid. " _Really_?! Out of everyone here, you picked him? What if he tries to kill _your_ family?!"

Your face went blank, but you could tell that Jeff was curious. "I would love to see him try and kill the other pastas. Besides, if he goes after my adoptive family, I'll kill him. He'd be easy compared to Zalgo. No offense," you add, nudging his side.

"None taken," he mumbled sleepily in your ear.

"You're impossible!" Jane yelled out, stomping off to the portal in your office.

"I'm happy for you two," Clockwork said with a smile, following her friend.

Once they were gone, Jeff replaced the eye cover and pulled you down. "Let's go back to bed," he mumbled.

You just laughed, cuddling into his chest. "Gladly."

As weird as the relationship was, you were looking forward to your new life.


	7. Last Chapter: Laughing Jack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your romantic ending with Laughing Jack!
> 
> EDIT: Thanks to everyone who mentioned I messed up the title. I fixed it :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this at the same time as Jeff's chapter, so make sure to check his out too!

_Your POV_

Your brain was a little foggy, but your first thought was that you wanted to know if you'd beaten Zalgo or not. It registered fairly quickly that regardless of whether or not you had defeated him, you'd still be alive. Besides, your muscles ached as if you'd been defeated. Your back felt like some had torn off your wings. If Zalgo had won, then that could very much be true.

Groaning inwardly, you tried opening your eyes. You realized that the room was fairly dark, but your eyes reacted as if you had been staring at the sun. A soft cry of pain left your lips as you tried opening them again. A soft scuffling noise you had attributed to some sort of equipment halted as you cried out a second time. A burning sensation flung across your skin, as if your whole body was suddenly reacting to the light. After a few more tires, you finally managed to open your eyes, (e/c) orbs studying the room you were in. It seemed to be Zalgo's room, but all of his belongings had been removed.

Also, LJ was there.

The monochrome man was staring at you, his mouth slightly agape. His silver eyes were running over your face intently, as if he were afraid you might just close your eyes and vanish or something. There was an untouched bag of candy in one of his hands.

You were starting to realize that you had beaten Zalgo. If you hadn't, there was no way that LJ would be standing there. And if you had beaten Zalgo, then everything you'd talked about with a Clockwork and Jane had come true. Is that why one of your favorite Creepypastas was before you? The one who had always managed to make you smile, even if it was just because you looked at the stuffed animal he'd given you all those years ago?

The bag of candy falling to the floor snapped you out of your thoughts just in time for LJ to fling himself onto you. He seemed to be doing an odd mixture of laughing and crying, and he only managed enough words to apologize when you cried out in pain. Him landing on you had _hurt,_ but he didn't seem inclined to move anytime soon. In fact, his black and white covered arms wrapped around your middle and refused to let go.

As his wails got louder, the doors to the guest rooms opened, revealing everyone else. Most of them let out relieved laughter at seeing that you were alright. They soon surrounded the bed, everyone talking over each other since they all wanted to know something different.

"One at a time," you croaked out, eyes widening when you realized how bad off your voice was.

Head still buried in your stomach, LJ reached to the side and grabbed a glass of water. You took it from him gratefully before turning back to the others and raising an eyebrow.

Slenderman, being the leader, spoke first. [Can you tell us what exactly happened?]

You nodded, stretching your neck and wincing when it hurt more than you had expected. As you tensed, LJ's grip tightened. "I think so," you reply with a frown. "Some of it is sort of a blur. I remember coming back from my mission yesterday and meeting with Jane and Clockwork. They had a plan to get rid of Zalgo, and they mentioned something I'd never heard of before. Clockwork said that all I had to do was back them."

Masky scoffed. "So she tricked you? The one who backs the Leadership Duel is the champion."

"And this champion fights the current leader," you finish with a nod. "I found that out the next morning when Clockwork suddenly labeled me the champion and told me I was going to fight Zalgo. Everything after that is all sort of a blur. I vaguely remember letting all of my demon out so that I could fight better." Your eyes narrowed as you tried to recall everything. "I think he broke through my demon wire."

"D-demon wir-re?" Hoodie asked from his spot beside Masky.

"Hm," you hummed with a nod. "It's a special wire I made that should be unbreakable. I mean, when I had Jane test it on me, I was cut up really badly, but I couldn't break it. Zalgo broke it, I think." You sigh, raising a hand to rub your neck. You tensed immediately, eyes flashing to your wrist. "Where are they?!" you gasped out, tears rising in your eyes.

[Where is what, child?]

"My necklace! And the bracelet!" you cry, feeling LJ tighten his arms some more. "I was wearing them when I went into the battle," you explain, starting to panic. "Zalgo broke them off when he was choking me!"

"Calm down, demon girl. Clockwork sent them to be fixed," Jane called from the doorway, walking in and swinging a small bag around. The others moved to allow her to come to you, but LJ refused to move. "I see you've got a leech," she added, dropping the bag into your lap.

"I wouldn't call him a leech," you grumble as a retort, grinning widely when you saw the contents of the bag. "Thanks, Jane. I really appreciate this."

"I'm not an idiot," Jane said with a shrug, plopping down onto the bed by your feet. "Everyone could see how much you cherished that necklace."

You felt your face heat up a little. "Not just the necklace!" you argue, trying to ignore the monochrome clown that was still laugh-crying into your stomach. "Though I doubt you would come in here just to chat. You have that glint in your eyes. What's up?"

Jane shrugged before slipping her knife from her pocket. "Let me see your wings," she said, ignoring the fact that everyone looked ready to jump her if she hurt you.

"Why?" you asked, drawing the word out as you pulled the necklace over your head. Its familiar weight helped ease your anxiety exponentially.

"Well, you _did_ kill Zalgo."

It took a moment for you to realize what she meant. Sure, everyone had watched what happened between you and PH, but you doubted they understood what exactly had happened. From what you could gather from Jane's words, killing Zalgo had done something to your wings. It would certainly explain the pain in your back.

"Oh," you mumbled, shifting your shoulders and wincing at the resulting pain.

Masky coughed into his hand, making you and Jane turn to him. "Mind explaining what you mean?"

You sighed, smiling softly when Jane handed over her knife. "It's a bit hard to explain, but I guess I can simplify it somewhat." As you spoke, the hand holding the knife reached back and carefully sliced off the bandage holding your wings to your back. "So you guys can see all these ink patterns, right?"

"Of course we ca-" Xavier cut himself off when your wings stretched out.

"That's definitely not what they looked like when we wrapped them," EJ muttered.

Curious, you stretched your wings out and glanced behind you. A gasp of surprise rose from your chest. Your once pure black demon wings were now feathery and soft, like an angel's. The majority of them was black, but a few rows of feathers were white. It created a strange striped effect that reminded you, oddly enough, of LJ. "Well then," you muttered, shifting them and wincing at the pain. A few deep breaths later, the wings turned into black and white ink that swirled across your back. You were vaguely aware that LJ's laugh-cry had subsided and his head was lifted enough so that he had been looking at your wings.

"I thought your ink was black," Masky said, clearly frowning beneath his mask.

A frown of your own overtook your expression. "It usually is," you explain, sighing. "I didn't learn about this ability until Lord Zalgo sent me to protect a few of the lesser pastas and we got attacked by a force of police officers." You frowned, shifting nervously. "I sort of absorbed their life forces and gained the ink around my eye." Everyone stared at you in shock. "My wings, swords, and horns come from my own life force. The ink on my neck appeared when I absorbed Pyramid Head's life force. The white swirls must be Zalgo's." You sighed. "That would explain why it hurts so much."

LJ's grip on you tightened a little more.

Jane shrugged. "That's all I really wanted to know. I need to let Clockwork know that you're okay. You'll need to meet with the sub leaders tomorrow, but rest up today."

"Why would I need to meet the sub leaders?" you questioned, face scrunching up in confusion.

"You won," Jane responded simply. "How does it feel, _Lady_ (y/n)?"

"Oh," you mumbled, eyes widening. "I completely forgot."

"Ahem," Jeff coughed into his hand. "Mind keeping us in the loop?"

"Sure thing, asshat," Jane said, glaring daggers at Jeff. "Since demon girl here killed Zalgo, she's taken over his job. Why do you think you guys were allowed in here? It was on her order."

You frowned. "It was?"

"Right before you passed out," the girl added with a shrug. "You'll need to give out new orders and let them know how you plan on doing things like punishment. I assume you'll do away with the isolation and whipping, since you clearly weren't fond of them."

You ignored everyone's horrified looks. "Of course! Those are hardly humane!"

"And we're hardly human," Jane shot back, standing from her spot at the end of the bed. "Think about it, alright? Clockwork is keeping the other pastas busy remodeling, but she'll visit tomorrow. She wanted me to say thanks in everyone's behalf."

"Thanks?"

"You saved us from Zalgo," she said simply, waving as she left.

Slenderman took this as his own cue to head out. [We should be going as well. It is not safe for us to be here for too long. Especially considering that we have a mortal with us.] Glancing around the room, the faceless man added, [I shall leave Laughing Jack here to keep an eye on you. Let me know if you need anything, alright, child?]

You smiled and gave your father figure a small nod. Everyone soon left through Slenderman's portal, a few of them making fun of LJ since he still had yet to let go of you. Silence reigned in the room for so long that you'd nearly fallen asleep when LJ finally spoke.

"I thought you were going to leave me," he mumbled into your stomach.

"What?"

"Isaac left me for so long, but I like you so much more than I did him. And you still left. You had to move away. And when we finally got you back, you gave yourself up." His shoulders started to shake, and this time there was no laughter to be heard. "I thought that I was going to lose you forever, (y/n)," he cried, his grip tightening so much it was painful. "I can't lose you, too."

You were speechless. Never once had you considered the implications upon LJ should any of his family die. He'd had a hard enough life as it were, and a death in the 'family' was probably the only thing that could push him over the edge.

"I'm so sorry, LJ," you finally say, your voice quiet and full of guilt. "But I needed to protect all of you from him."

"Don't do it again," he muttered. "I wouldn't be able to stand losing you."

~ Time Skip ~

As the weeks went by, LJ stayed by your side to make sure you stayed healthy. He left occasionally though the portal set up in Zalgo's office, only to return with stuffed animals and candy for you. Whenever you had meetings, he gave you piggyback rides - something he seemed to enjoy a lot more than you. Your stitches tended to flare up a lot since most of your time involved never ending laughs. More than once, LJ would take back a bag of candy he had just given you to make sure it wasn't poisoned.

Today, you would finally be headed out of the castle Zalgo had forced you to call home. Xavier had come back for a visit and cleared you to leave your 'hospital' room. LJ had yet to tell you where you were headed, but you assumed that your destination would be the forest mansion. You had just finished getting dressed in your usual clothes and packing your final bag when LJ came out of the office.

"Ready to go?" he asked, grinning with his pointed teeth.

You smiled a little in response, (e/c) eyes glittering with happiness. While a little stifling, you loved the way LJ fawned over you. He was always careful to make sure he didn't hurt you, but at the same time he made you laugh so hard you were concerned you pulled your stitches. For three years, you never gave a real smile. Now you giving them all the time. You loved it.

And, even if you didn't want to admit it, you were starting to love LJ.

"I'm ready," you finally say, reaching over to grab your bag that was filled with some of the stuffed animals you'd been given.

Laughing Jack swooped in and grabbed the bag before you could. "I'll get it."

"You're getting my other two bags," you argue.

LJ just shrugs, grabbing your hand to pull you into the office. On the way to the portal, he grabbed two bags from the desk. As he approached the portal, it lit up in a strange black and white pattern. LJ dragged you through it without much ceremony, and you started a little at your destination.

"Why are we at your carnival?"

LJ grinned widely at you, dragging you to a huge tent. "We decided that you shouldn't be in your own just yet since your side hasn't fully healed," he explained. "So I figured that you might like being somewhere brighter and more fun than the mansion! Everyone else came in and cleaned everything up a little so now it's brighter and happier!" You were dragged into the (f/c) tent, revealing a bedroom of sorts. "Plus, if you're here, I can always be nearby, even when I'm killing!" LJ tossed your bags at the end of the bed, helping you get in and tucking you under the blankets. "See! If you need anything, I'll always be within yelling distance!"

"Thanks, LJ," you respond with a grin, cuddling into the blankets that smelled just like him - the scent of candy and an undeniable warmth.

The monochrome man merely grinned in response, opening your bags and piling the stuffed animals around you. Everything was good.

Until you finally managed to get into a sleep deep enough to dream. Your first dream in a long while happened to be a nightmare. In your nightmare, Zalgo had never truly died, and he had come back to get his revenge. After forcing you to become his proxy, he ordered you to kill LJ. You awoke with a scream, the image of you absorbing his life force ingrained into your mind. Seconds later, the real LJ was at your side, the blood on him suggesting that he'd been in the middle of 'playing' with a child. He seemed hesitant to touch you because of the blood, but you pulled him close nonetheless, crying into his feathery shoulders. LJ cuddled you back, and when you awoke the next morning, he was still there. At some point, he must have gotten up considering that the blood was gone, but he had still come back. Every night after that, LJ slept by your side.

~ Time Skip ~

You yawned loudly, stretching your arms above your head. A small bit of pain pulsated from your side, but you knew that the stitches were unneeded now. Nothing could pull open your wound. It was mostly healed. Unfortunately, this also meant that the others figured it was time for you to return to the mansion. So, as the sun set, you were in your room.

And LJ was in his room.

You had just changed into your pajamas when you caught sight of your reflection in the mirror attached to your dresser. Despite everything, you looked remarkably mortal. The thought annoyed you somewhat. With just a simple thought, your teeth sharpened to deadly points. As your (e/c) eyes stared back at you, you noticed just how pale you were. Your skin was almost sickly compared to your usual color, and your cheeks were sunken in a little. You'd been eating very little since LJ seemed to have forgotten that you needed more to eat than just candy. Not like you'd ever get sick of candy. Aside from that, however, you were fairly glad to see that you were mostly healthy. Ever since LJ started sleeping beside you, all of your nightmares had stopped. Your sleep was peaceful again.

Thinking about LJ made your heart hurt a little, so you turned away from the mirror and back to your hot pink room. You'd have to get paints to repaint it now that you weren't a little girl anymore. The neon color hurt your eyes, and it was already starting to bug you.

You missed LJ's blacks and whites.

Your scratched your head wildly, trying to distract yourself from thoughts of the monochrome clown. Perhaps going to sleep would be for the best. It would be easier not to think about the clown when you were asleep, right? With that thought in mind, you climbed into bed and cuddled one of the stuffed animals that smelled the most like LJ.

Halfway through the night, you awoke with a scream. When no one came rushing in, you were reminded of the fact that the rooms were soundproof. Done so to make sure that anyone who brought their 'friends' home wouldn't bother the others. You shivered a little. The bed was lacking a warmth that you had grown accustomed to over the last couple weeks. With tears streaming down your face, you grabbed your blanket and stuffed animal, heading out into the hallway once they were firmly in your arms. A few doors down from your own was a vaguely familiar door covered in black and white splotches. You knocked lightly, hoping that he wasn't asleep.

A groan of annoyance sounded from the other side. You were about to retreat when the door was flung open. LJ stood there, his face immediately going from pissed to concerned when he saw that it was you on the other side of his door. "(y/n)?" he muttered, eyes narrowing in concern. "Why are you sti-?" He cut himself off when his eyes adjusted enough for him to see the tear streaks. "Are you alright?!"

You sniffle, wiping away the remaining tears away with the back of your free hand. "Can I sleep in here?"

A soft smile suddenly brightened LJ's face. "Anytime," he said, his voice soft. "As long as you smile."

You let LJ lead you to the bed. He made sure you were safely underneath the covers before climbing in next to you and pulling you to his chest. As you buried into said chest, he rubbed your head and whispered words of encouragement. That night, you fell asleep with a content smile on your face.

~ Time Skip ~

You woke up the next morning to the feeling of being watched. You cracked open an eye, seeing LJ laying next to you. He had a soft smile on his face, as if he were staring at the most precious thing in the world. One of his hands was running through your hair, almost soothing you back to sleep. It took a moment for you to realize that his other arm was propping his head up so he could see you better.

"Like what you see?" you yawned out, opening both eyes all the way.

A soft pink flashed over his face, and the hand caressing your hand retracted. "W-what was that?"

With a smile of your own, you sat up and stretched. From the corner of your eye, you noticed that LJ was already dressed. "What time is it?"

"Nine," he responded, glad for the change of topic. "There's some breakfast saved for you downstairs."

"Are you going somewhere?" you ask, rubbing the sleep from your eyes.

"I was planning on heading over to the carnival."

You frown, turning to look at him. "Could I come?"

LJ seemed surprised. "I didn't think you'd want to," he admitted.

"Of course I want to. I promise not to get in the way."

Scratching his neck a bit sheepishly, LJ looked away to hide the growing blush in his cheeks. "Then you can come. And don't worry about getting in the way. Just have fun."

~ Time Skip ~

Everyday since then, you would sleep in LJ's room - much to everyone else's amusement - and accompanied him to his carnival on most days. Today was when of the days you stayed behind since you had to set up your office. Your grandfather's cottage made a great place for an office since it was quite a ways away from the mansion, and just outside the barrier. Making the portal had taken a lot out of you, so you were now laying on the roof and basking in the sunlight streaming through the trees.

"(y/n)?" you heard a familiar voice call. "Are you working?"

You sighed, slightly annoyed that your break had been cut short, but mostly happy to see LJ. Stretching, you sat up and rolled to the edge of the roof. LJ was standing near the door, waiting for an answer. "What's up?" you called down, the necklace he'd given you hanging down from your neck.

The clown jumped, looking up in surprise. "What are you doing up there? Playing a new game?"

A small chuckle escaped your throat. "Quite the opposite actually. I was being lazy. Is there anything you needed?"

At this, the monochrome clown looked away and rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I was wondering if you'd like to go to the carnival for a little while."

Frowning, you slid off the roof and landed lithely beside your closest friend. "We go the carnival most days."

"I wanted to show you something."

A little perturbed that he wasn't able to meet your gaze, you gave a hesitant 'yes' before bringing him to the new portal and heading to the carnival. Once there, LJ perked up exponentially and dragged you across the grounds to a claw machine. You couldn't recognize it, which meant that he had added it recently.

"So you added a new machine," you said, raising an eyebrow.

LJ said nothing, instead putting a quarter in and starting up the machine. He moved the claw expertly, like he'd been practicing getting something from a specific spot. You watched with interest as he hooked a stuffed puppy with something hanging from its neck. It plopped into the pick up area, and LJ gestured for you to take it. A bit hesitantly, you reached in and grabbed the present. Your eyes widened when you saw wha to had been hanging from its neck. A white gold chain was adorned with your favorite gemstone shaped like a heart and two snowflake agates flanked both sides. Stitched a bit haphazardly into the dog's stomach was the phrase 'I love you' in black and white stitching.

Before you could look at him, LJ wrapped his arms around you from behind. "Please stay by my side forever, (y/n)."

You felt tears of happiness start to slide down your cheeks as you nodded enthusiastically and laughed happily. "Of course, LJ," you managed through the tears and laughs.

"Everyone calls me LJ. Call me Jack."

Your face started to heat up, but you nodded nonetheless. "Of course, Jack."

One of his arms around you tightened a little as he moved the other to turn your head towards him. His lips were surprisingly soft, and tasted of your favorite candy, as they brushed against yours.

"I'm going to protect you forever, now," he said, his breath brushing against your face. "I'm never going to lose you."


	8. Last Chapter: Ticci Toby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your romantic ending with Ticci Toby!
> 
> Ask and you shall receive.

****_Third POV_

It had been four whole days since everyone had heard about the death of Zalgo and what you had done. After the third day, Slenderman sent most of the others back to the mansion since he was afraid that their nervousness and anxiety would lead to them starting a fight with the Creepypastas here.

Currently, the remaining pastas were seated in one of the guest rooms that also doubled as a kitchen and dining room. Masky and Hoodie were enjoying their cheesecake breakfast while Toby bounced up and down in his seat. Beneath his goggles, Toby's eyes were locked onto the man making him waffles.

[Here, Toby,] Slenderman hummed, setting the heaping pile of waffles before the proxy.

"Waffles!" he called out excitedly, neck cracking loudly as it twitched the side.

Masky rolled his eyes behind the mask. Living in this small space with the hyperactive proxy for so long was starting to feel like torture. It was same thing everyday.

But there was a single consolation to this whole thing.

As if in line with Masky's thoughts, Toby suddenly shot up, bolting out of the room and leaving behind his unfinished plate of waffles. It was like the proxy had some sort of sixth sense that realized when you were having a nightmare. And, sure enough, by the time the other three had followed him into the bedroom, Toby was beside the bed, his head close to yours as he whispered something to your writhing form. As it always did, whatever he had said calmed you. It wasn't long before the twisting and turning ceased and a serene expression once more overtook your face.

Toby grinned happily before skipping past the other three and into the kitchen to finish his waffles.

"W-what does he e-even s-say?" Hoodie asked, eyes locked on your peaceful form.

[Something personal,] was all Slenderman said before returning to the kitchen.

"At least she seems happy," Masky finally commented, going back to his breakfast cheesecake.

~ Time Skip ~

On the seventh day, Slenderman went back to the mansion with Masky and Hoodie. He ended up leaving Toby behind for three major reasons.

1) He seemed oddly protective of you, brandishing his hatchets whenever a threatening presence so much as moved by the room.  
2) He was the only one capable of calming you during your nightmares.  
3) If Toby was with you, he wasn't causing trouble back at the mansion.

Now, on the ninth day, Toby was animatedly chatting with you, despite the fact that you were still comatose. Up until now, he had been telling you stories of things that had happened at the mansion in the woods. This time, however, he was telling you about how he joined the Creepypastas, since you weren't around at the time.

"I thought I was going to die," he admitted, legs bouncing up and down. He was shaking the bed since he had chosen to sit beside your sleeping form. "Slendy showed up and saved me from... myself, I guess. I would have let myself burn there." A small, self-deprecating laugh escaped his throat. "I deserved it."

"I don't think you deserved it," a soft, cracked voice spoke up from behind him.

_Your POV_

Your head was absolutely  _killing_ you. Your entire body left like lead, and even moving a single arm seemed impossible. Nonetheless, a voice was anchoring you to a consciousness that, right now, was most definitely not welcoming. You just wanted to go back to the nothingness that you had been in for, what, months now? It was hard to tell. Time had begun blending together long ago.

The voice suddenly continued speaking, and the words were a lot easier to understand now. He was talking about how he was pretty sure he was going to die. Around the time he mentioned your father figure's name, you forced your (e/c) orbs open. Both eyes landed on the human figure sitting on the bed beside you. His back was turned toward you, but you could tell from the bed shaking and his neck twitch that it was none other than Ticci Toby. The words must have been his. You listened to him speak for a little longer before he said something that didn't sit quite right with you.

"I don't think you deserved it," you managed through your dry throat and cracked lips.

Almost immediately, a surprised pair of hazel eyes hidden behind orange goggles turned to stare into your (e/c) ones. His mouth had widened into an 'o' shape in his confusion, mouth guard hanging around his neck and long since forgotten.

"(y/n)?" he questioned, head twitching to the side as he asked.

You managed a small smile, though you certainly felt like going back to sleep for the rest of eternity. "I think so," you croaked out. "Is all of me here? I sure hope so."

Toby stared at you blankly for a few moments before his mouth widened in a large smile. "You're okay!"

"That's debatable."

"You're alive!" he immediately amended.

An honest grin made the edges of your lips twitch. "That I can agree with."

"Everyone was so worried about you," he continued on, starting to ramble a little. "They were worried you wouldn't wake up. I was worried that we'd never get to share waffles."

"I'm glad that you have your priorities," you cut in, grin much wider now. With him smiling brightly at you, you decided it was time to move. You forced your arms to your sides in an effort to push yourself up. Both arms crumpled under the effort, unable to produce enough power. Toby moved forward and pulled you into a sitting position.

"You haven't eaten in over a week!" he called out, hopping off the bed. His hands were shifting together, anxiety clearly worsened now that you were awake. "I'll make waffles! Waffles can make everything better!"

You didn't have time to argue before the Pasta bolted into the adjoined kitchen. Well. At least you liked waffles.

~ Time Skip ~

Toby had been in the kitchen for an hour. There was no yelling or burning, so you were a little confused as to why he was taking so long. Though, if there was a way for him to destroy your kitchen without any noise, you were sure that he'd find it.

As you were thinking, Toby's voice called from the kitchen, "close your eyes!"

You did as he asked, happy that he was coming back out. Your stomach was grumbling like mad. Regardless, you could hear Toby shuffling into the room and moving beside your bed. There was a clinking sound on your bedside table that you attributed to silverware being placed down, followed by Toby excitedly yelling into your ear, "open!"

The first thing you saw when you opened your eyes was the bright candle lit nearly directly in front of your face. Moving your eyes downward, you noticed that the candle was sticking out of a huge stack of waffles that were on a tray on your lap.

"Toby?" you questioned, raising an eyebrow and glancing at him in confusion.

"Happy birthday!"

"It's my birthday?"

"Nope," Toby replied with a grin. "Your birthday was a few days ago, but I thought that it would fun to celebrate! Clockwork mentioned it one day when she came in to check on you."

You turned back to the stack of waffles. "I don't think I've ever had birthday waffles before."

"I tried to steal Masky's cheesecake, but he found out and tried to decapitate me with my own hatchets." His mouth turned down in a frown before he was suddenly smiling again. "Besides, birthday waffles are better. Make a wish!"

You smiled honestly at the excited proxy before blowing out the candle and making your wish.  _'I hope everyone stays happy this time.'_

~ Time Skip ~

[And what of Toby?] Slenderman asked as he continued peeling the apple. [I have asked you about how  _you_  have been doing, but you have yet to mention how my proxy is treating you.] The man set down another bunny shaped apple, sticking a toothpick in it for you.

You inwardly cringed at the question, though not for the reason many would assume. You actually liked having Toby around. His energy kept your energy up, and that made it easier to stay awake and work on healing. However, your father figure had ordered Toby to remain by your side. This caused problems when Jane or Clockwork came to bring you to meetings. Toby was too unique. He stuck out like a sore thumb. Just last week, you had been heading to a meeting with Jane and Toby when a few lesser Pastas turned the corner and spotted Toby. They immediately assumed that you didn't realize that he was there and tried to attack him. You'd had to transform into your full demon for to separate the three of them, and you ended up injuring yourself further - hence why you were in bed now.

You told your father figure as much.

Slenderman seemed a bit perturbed as he set another apple bunny on your plate. [I had not considered the effect my orders would have,] he admitted, sounding a bit upset. [Though there is no order for me to give that would allow for changes.] The man's shoulders drew in a bit. [He is good to you otherwise?] Slender eventually asked, and you couldn't help but notice that he sounded both resigned and manipulative.

"Great, actually," you admitted. "He's always getting whatever I need. And he keeps the nightmares away. I'm never quite sure what he says, but I think that it must be something someone said to him once. Maybe his sister?"

[He trusts you.]

"Apparently. Though I'm not quite sure why."

Slenderman nodded and set the last apple bunny on your plate before moving his own plate and the knife to your bedside table. [I see.] There was a pause before Slenderman said, [perhaps we can come to a separate arrangement.]

You raised your (e/c) orbs to his expressionless face with confusion, setting down the apple bunny you had been about to eat. "Oh?"

[You are much more powerful than both Zalgo and I. This means that you can do more than we can, including everything we are and were capable of.]

"Correct," you say, drawing the word out. You weren't sure yet if you liked where this was going.

[I am going to suggest this for more than one reason,] he continued, scratching his neck a bit nervously when he noticed how impatient you were growing. [I would like to transfer Ticci Toby to your command.]

You blinked at the faceless man, eyebrows drawing together as you tried to sort through his words. Moments later, your eyes widened to the size of saucers. "You want to make  _Toby_  my  _proxy_?!"

[Percisely. If we do this, then he will follow your orders, making it so that the others will have no reason to attack him. Plus, he is already incredibly protective of you. This means that he will defend you. Besides, I am sure that Masky and Hoodie would be glad to be away with him, not to mention that he would be happy with being the only proxy.]

"Is that even something we can do?!" you ground out, realizing that Slenderman wasn't going to leave until you'd accepted his plan.

[Morally, no. However, you are stronger than any of us. What you say goes, no matter what arguments we may have.] A sigh escaped your lips, and you voiced your concern from earlier. A laugh bubbled up from your father figure. [Yes, child. I do intend to make you agree to this.]

"And what about Toby?" you finally asked. "What about his opinion?"

[He would not mind.]

"How can you even  _know_  that?!"

Slenderman shrugged, standing from his seat so that he was towering above you. [I have been in his mind. He is fond of you.]

"Fond?"

[I shall call him here now,] the faceless man continued, ignoring your question.

You were forced to just sit back and watch, nibbling on your apple bunnies, as Slenderman opened a portal and moved through it, returning through another moment later with Toby in tow. He pushed the proxy towards you, and Toby looked between the two of you with confusion clear in his goggle covered eyes. He was shivering a bit, his neck was twitching more than usual, and his hands were shaking like crazy. Something was wrong. If the way he suddenly shot his head to you was any indication, Slenderman had just explained what was going on.

[Take his hand and imagine your proxy symbol. I have weakened my hold to almost nothing so that you may overwrite mine.]

Unable to speak from the suddenness of the situation, you merely gave Toby what you hoped was a reassuring smile before grabbing his hand. Closing your eyes, you imagined your proxy symbol; an upside down star immediately began forming in your mind's eyes. A line quickly circled it, a pair of angelic white wings sprouting outward. A gasp of surprise sounded before you, making your eyes shoot open. Toby had pulled the front of his shirt down and was now staring at the black proxy symbol that looked like it had been inked on the right side of his collarbone.

"That sorta tickled."

At the edge of the bed, Slenderman nodded in appeasement. [Good. I shall come visit again in a few days. I look forward to seeing you again, child.]

"Yeah, sure," you grumbled, laying against the bed's headboard and closing your eyes once more. The whole event had been tiring, both physically and emotionally. You had considered getting a proxy of your own once or twice, but the thought had quickly been shot down. You'd been determined to never have a proxy. It didn't seem right to you. No one was lesser than you.

Especially Toby.

As if sensing your anxiety over the situation, or perhaps merely reading your facial expression, Toby spoke up, "this is cool!"

You slowly opened your eyes, managing a confused glance at the proxy. "Pardon?"

"I never liked that Masky always got all that attention," he admitted, plopping down into the bed beside you. "Now I'm the only proxy!" he cheered, neck twitching to the side. Both of his legs were bouncing up and down rapidly, shaking the bed and betraying his anxiety.

"Slenderman isn't abandoning you," you reply, eyes locked on his face. You watched as he shot his gaze to you, clearly surprised that you had realized what was wrong. "In fact, he was thinking about you. Slendy admitted that he dug around your head a little to make sure you'd be okay with it. He wouldn't have even suggested it if he was unsure of your reaction."

Toby's leg shaking slowed to a halt as his eyes moved to gaze at the floor. "I know."

A soft sigh escaped your lips. "No need to be so upset. It's weird to see you so subdued. I would say it's better when your smiling, but I can't see past that mouth guard right now. All I can tell is that you're frowning."

Hazel eyes hidden by orange goggles slowly raised to gaze into your (e/c) orbs. Slowly, Toby raised his arms and pulled his goggles onto his head of messy brown hair, revealing the bright hazel to you. Once the goggles were settled, his hands lowered and pulled down the mouth guard. A smile curved up the edges of his lips as the guard settled around his neck.

"Better?" he asked, now grinning widely.

A smile of your own spread across your face. "Much better." After a few moments, you realized that Toby's eyes had widened and his smile had faded somewhat. His hazel orbs were still locked onto your face. "Something I should know?"

"You're beautiful."

Both of your cheeks were immediately set aflame, and Slenderman's words from before came back. " _He is fond of you."_  Oh god.

Toby's smile suddenly came back. "You're even cuter when your blushing!" he declared, jumping off the bed. "Waffle time!"

"Toby!" you shouted after him, a little annoyed when, instead of him returning, you heard him moving pots and pans around.

You were slightly less annoyed when he cried out after dropping the waffle batter.

~ Time Skip ~

A yawn escaped your throat as you practiced the sword swing again. You were supposed to return to the mansion later in the day, so you figured it might be good to stretch out all of your still sore muscles. Besides, you needed something to take your mind off of Toby, who pretended to forget what he said to you whenever your brought it up.

Ass.

"Lady (y/n)!" a voice screamed out as Clockwork slammed into your doorframe in her rush.

"Clock?" you asked, wiping the sweat from your forehead. You could hear Toby emerge from the kitchen. "What's wrong? You seem panicked."

"Rake tried to attack a few of the weaker Pastas," she gasped out. "They're in the dining hall. Jane is trying to hold him back."

All of your muscles simultaneously tensed at her words. Rake had always been a problem, but this was pushing it over the edge. "I'll take care of him," you growled out, gripping your ink sword closer and bolting out of the room.

"(y/n)!" Toby yelled after you, scrambling around the room before taking off to follow you. "Your other weapons!"

You didn't even hear him. Jane was your left hand, you couldn't let anything happen to her! You tore into the dining hall, barely aware that you were still in the outfit you'd chosen to work out in; your old uniform. All of those gathered separated at the sight of you and the combination blade-claws that had been used to destroy Zalgo.

"Rake!"

The tall creature stood to his full length at hearing your voice. Behind him, Jane - joined by Bloody Painter, Candy Pop, and Puppeteer - were protecting a group of cowering Creepypastas. The four of them looked worse for wear.

"You," Rake hissed out, raising his claws.

It took only a moment for you to take your full demon form, though the accompanying pain was nothing to scoff at. Regardless, you lunged past him, forming a barrier between the evil creature and some of your closest friends. "Are you guys alright?" you asked, raising your sword to block the blow of his claws. Holding against the strength of both arms was fairly difficult, but you had bigger problems.

"We'll live," Painter answered as Puppeteer began scattering the other Pastas in the area.

"The attack was unprovoked," Jane added. "I doubt that I'd be able to move if Candy over here hadn't gotten them to help."

You nod, grunting in pain as Rake started to push harder. Your muscles couldn't handle this yet, and it was just getting worse. Both arms were about to give out when Rake lurched forward and screamed out in pain.

"(y/n)!"

Rake curled in on himself a little, revealing both the hatchet imbedded into his back and the gasping proxy standing at the edge of the crowd, one arm still raised from throwing his weapon. Whispers immediately started around you.

_"Isn't he one of the faceless man's?"_

_"I can't believe that Rake would get one of them to help him."_

And then one voice louder than the others.

"He's after Lady (y/n)!"

One of the Creepypastas in the crowd lunged after the twitching man, who, having not expected it, got knocked to the ground. Instincts kicked in and your sword molded into your familiar claws. Your already sharpened teeth elongated, the razor points becoming so sharp that they cut up the inside of your mouth. The white ink upon your back spread over your wings and turned the angelic feathers into razor sharp metal. They clinked loudly as the wings shifted. You could feel something a bit more primal awaken, and, though you were unaware of it at the time, both of your eyes had turned darker than night with deadly red flecks.

 ** _"Step away from my proxy,"_** you called out, voice sounding more like your old demon's than your own.

Everyone in the room froze, including Toby. They all turned to you, terror clear on their faces. Rake even pulled the hatchet out of his back, setting it by Toby before cowering away.

"Your proxy?" Bloody Painter managed.

**_"He is my proxy. He bears my mark, and you would do well to remember that."_ **

Jane took a deep, shaky breath before moving over to Toby and helping him up. "Sorry 'bout that. We usually have better control over them than that."

Toby didn't respond. His goggle covered hazel eyes were too busy staring at you.

 ** _"Send Rake to the mountain mansion for punishment,"_**  your demonic voice continued as you walked forward. Everyone moved out of your way.  ** _"Please take care of that."_**

"Yes, Lady (y/n)," came the chorus of replies.

You pushed forward, not even bothering to look back as you made you way back to your room. If the footsteps behind you were any indication, Toby was following. The moment you entered your room, you fell to your knees and started hacking into your hand. Unsurprisingly, the pain had grown too great, not to mention that this more powerful form you apparently possessed had taken quite the toll on your body.

"(y/n)!"

Realizing that Toby had entered the room behind you, and was now planning on moving to your side, you flapped your metallic wings and stood, managing to stumble away.  ** _"Stay back."_**  Behind you, Toby froze. It took a moment for you to realize that your words had been an order using the proxy bond. Guilt started to eat at you. You managed to ignore the pain, and bloody coughs, long enough to make everything to return to ink upon your body.

"(y/n)," came the familiar voice again. "Please. You're bleeding. I know you can feel pain.  _Please_  let me help.  _Please!_ "

You managed a nod, severing the order from before. Within a second, Toby was at your side and moving you over to the bed. Once you were seated, he grabbed the first aid kit hidden underneath and started to bandage you up. Your back and arms were covered in scratches you'd given yourself when flapping your metallic wings earlier. He had to stick cotton balls in your mouth in an attempt to rectify the profusely bleeding cuts caused by the razor teeth. And there was no telling the inner damage you'd done taking that form again.

He set down all of the medical equipment, sighing softly. His now free hands lifted to cup either side of your face, forcing your eyes to his. It was around this time that you realized he had removed his goggles and mouth guard once again, as he often did when it was just the two of you. Both of his hazel eyes were glittering in the bright light of the wall lights beside the bed.

"You're bleeding," you manage around the cotton balls.

"So are you," he replied with a frown. "But it doesn't bother  _me._  I'm more concerned about you."

"I'll be fine," you grumble, weakly pushing away his arms and turning away.

His arms shot up once more, forcing you to face him once more. This time however, instead of his eyes meeting yours, it was his lips. You were frozen for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on, before relaxing into his touch. His arms lowered, wrapping around your sore body and pulling you closer to him. He pulled back suddenly, his following head twitch helping you realize why. His hazel eyes stared at you for a moment, widening as his legs began shaking wildly.

"T-time for waffles!" he cheered, lurching to his feet and making a break for the kitchen.

You shot to your feet, grabbing his arm and keeping him back. "You're not escaping this time!" you ground out, pulling on his arm so his body was facing yours, even if his head refused to turn in your direction. "You're not even acting like yourself, Toby. I'm worried about you."

"I can't feel pain," he mumbled. "After I killed my dad, I didn't think I'd ever feel again. I tried to keep smiling and acting all happy since I didn't know what else to do. When I first met you, I saw someone that had been through so much, too, but you were scarred. You caused yourself pain, and I couldn't understand that. I was curious. And then you protected all of us, risking your own life to do so." He finally lifted his tear filled hazel eyes to your (e/c) orbs. "When we were all let into this room after they saved you, and I saw how relieved everyone was, I decided that I would protect  _you._ But then I felt something. And it got stronger and stronger." He lightly pulled his arm from your grip, raising his pale hands to your face and moving a little closer. "And it keeps getting stronger. Everyday."

"So this is you?" you muttered, referring to his current demeanor.

He shrugged lightly. "No. I don't like being seriously I like having fun, I think. But this needs to be serious. Please tell me you love me back."

You stared into his terrified hazel orbs, thinking back on everything that had happened since you'd awoken. Toby helping with your nightmares. Toby protecting you from other Creepypastas in the mansion. Toby always sticking by your side. All he'd  _had_  to do was stay within seeing distance. He never had to help you stretch your muscles. He never had to help you with food and water. He  _never had to do any of it._

But he did.

Seeing that he was growing more nervous, and that his twitching was getting worse as a result, you nodded at him. He immediately brightened, wrapping his arms around you and lifting you to spin you in circles.

"Yay! We need celebration waffles!"

Through your bubbling laughter, you managed, "we already packed the waffle iron."

"Then we'll unpack it!"

More laughter left your throat, and you found that all of the anxiety and nervousness you'd been feeling about everything was vanishing with Toby's excitement. "Slenderman is waiting for us," you argued, unable to contain your laughter. "I made him promise to make waffles."

Toby looked surprised, setting you down and running towards the office, where your bags were stored. "I'll get our stuff! I need some of my second favorite things!"

"Second favorite?" you questioned, moving to grab your knife and scalpel roll.

"Well, you're my favorite thing now!" he called out, grinning brightly at you before skipping into the office.

Your face grew bright red as your brain processed what he said. "That's so not fair!" you shouted back, grabbing your stuff and preparing to open a portal.

~ Time Skip ~

"And here!" you sigh in relief, closing the portal behind you. "Though we're a bit farther from the mansion than I intended," you admitted.

Toby's free hand lowered and grabbed onto yours. "Let's walk! The air is really clear!"

You raised an eyebrow at him, though laced your fingers with his. "Have you already forgotten about the waffles?"

He turned to stare at you before grinning wildly beneath the mouth guard and bolting toward the mansion. It took a moment for you to regain your footing from his hard tug, but you ran beside him and laughed nonetheless. He didn't have to know that running like that was pretty painful.

"There they are!"

Your eyes alighted upon everyone who was waiting outside for your return. As you and Toby slid to a stop before everyone, Masky walked forward and smacked the top of your head.

"You're late, (y/n). We were worri-" he cut himself off suddenly, eyes skimming over you. "Why are you covered in bandages?"

Everyone suddenly looked at you suspiciously. You merely shrugged, turning to the side and spitting out some blood. No point in trying to hide it now. "I got in a fight this morning," you admitted, feeling Toby's hand tighten. "I'm fine. It's just a bunch of small scratches. Besides," you better get a toby some waffles before he throws a fit."

"I was promised waffles!"

Slenderman stepped forward. [In a moment, children. There is something I must share with everyone first.]

You frowned, shifting your sore shoulders. "This doesn't sound good."

[This only really affects Masky and Hoodie.] Everyone glanced at each other in confusion. [Ticci Toby is no longer my proxy.]

A series of horrified gasps sounded from the group. "What does that mean for him?" Masky asked, concern clear in his voice.

[I transferred him to (y/n).]

You grimaced when everyone's eyes turned to you. "You couldn't have told them this sooner?"

[I do not believe that they would have believed my words,] Slenderman admitted.

"Why not?" Toby asked, setting your bags down and pulling the front of his shirt down to reveal the symbol. "It's really cool!"

"I don't know whether to be glad that he is longer my concern or feel sympathy for (y/n)," Masky mumbled, shaking his head.

Coughing into your free hand, and ignoring the blood, you said, "well, I'm exhausted. Why don't we hurry up and eat sonI can get some sleep!"

Toby released your hand and ran for the food covered table, screaming "waffles!" the whole time.

~ Time Skip ~

"Toby?"

"Hm?" the proxy hummed back, moving your clothes into one half of the dresser.

"This is your room."

"Yup!" he chimed, finishing up putting your clothes away and moving on to your books.

"This isn't my room," you continued, knitting your eyebrows together.

"That's true." Having now put most of your stuff away, Toby moved over to you and grabbed your hands, leading you over to the bed. "If you're here, then I can protect you. I like being near you." He grinned happily at your reaction. "You're beautiful when you blush." Both hands cupped your cheek as he gave you a quick kiss. "Let's go to bed! Sleepy time!"

That night, before you fell asleep, you considered where you were. Toby was loud and obnoxious according to most people. To you, he was sweet and protective. And maybe a little obnoxious. Regardless, you loved being near him. Even more so than you loved drawing.

You thought of your sketchbook sitting in one of your bags. And all of the pictures of Toby you'd drawn while you were healing.

Your relationship was a strange one - master and proxy, lovers - but you loved every moment of it.


	9. Last Chapter: Masky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your romantic ending with Masky!

****_Third POV_

_'She seems so oddly calm laying there. It's like she's finally been given a chance to breathe,'_  Masky thought as he gazed at you from his perch beside your bed.  _'I just hope she keeps breathing,'_  a thought suddenly cut in, making his breath quicken. Behind the mask, his face scrunched up. He was actually pretty glad for the mask; it hid the terror in his eyes. Of course, Hoodie and Slenderman could tell his true emotions based on his body language. That was unavoidable.  _'What if she never wakes up?'_ came another intrusive thought. Masky raised his hands to rub his temples. He couldn't think like that. You'd wake up. You'd wake up and be happy.

He'd always liked it best when you smiled.

And it was his fault you had stopped.

In reality, you would have found out about Zalgo's threat eventually. Masky just blamed himself for not being more careful. He thought that if he had been just a little more careful, you would have stayed at the mansion with everyone. Not many people were following closely enough behind Smile to see you follow Zalgo through the portal, but he was one of them. For just a split second, the few that broke through saw your expression. You had looked so  _broken._

And the entire three years, Masky blamed himself. Hoodie had tried to explain that it wasn't his fault, of course, but no one is ever really ready to let go of their guilt.

Masky was shot out of his inner thoughts when you twitched and let out a groan. The way your nose and eyes were scrunched up suggested that you were having another nightmare. Despite your comatose state, you still alternated between a restful sleep and one filled with things Masky doubted he could even imagine. A soft mumble left your lips, followed by a pained whimper. With only the slightest hesitation, Masky reached forward and clasped one of your hands between both of his. Your entire body tensed for a few moments before you completely relaxed. The corners of your lips turned up, and you subconsciously gripped his hand in response.

Masky slipped off his mask, placing it on the bedside table before burying his face into the bed. He  _hated_ it. He hated the waiting. Three days after EJ and Xavier had patched you up with the help of Slenderman and you had yet to wake up. How long did he have to wait to hear your beautiful voice? How long until he could see your sparkling (e/c) eyes staring back at his own?  _How long_?

"Hey, M-Masky," a familiar said from behind him.

"Hey, Hoodie," Masky mumbled, reaching out his free hand to grab his mask and put it back on. "Whats wrong?" he asked, lifting his head to look at his closest friend.

"Y-you ne-e-ed to eat. S-she w-wouldn't want-t you to st-tarve." Hoodie held out a box with a plastic fork on top. "I-I brought-t ch-cheesecak-ke." His worry for Masky was making his stuttering worsen.

"I'm not hungry."

Hoodie was clearly frowning. His body language said as much. "M-Masky," he said, putting the box down at the edge of the bed. "I-I cook-ked it."

At that, Masky perked up a little. Surprisingly enough, Hoodie was a pretty good cook. Well, he could cook a mean cheesecake. Anything else he cooked tended to end with everyone getting sick. And Masky preferred Hoodie's cheesecake to anyone else's.

"Fine," he grumbled, using his free hand to open the box and start eating. He could practically  _hear_ Hoodie's smirk at the fact that he refused to let go of your hand.

But there was no way he was going to let you stay in your nightmare.

_Your POV_

Most of your mind was just a giant ball of fuzz. There was no way for you to weave through the gigantic dust bunny that was your mind and find a way out. It felt like years had passed since you gained enough awareness to realize where you were. Now it was horrible. You couldn't find a way out, and you were left to your own thoughts. Most of what had happened in the fight was stuck in the fuzz, so you were unable to figure out if you had won or not. As it were, you could tell that your actual body - not the one you were using to wander your subconscious - was incredibly sore. Whenever you fell into a nightmare pit, you gained a small connection to your body. It made it so you couldn't move.

As you were walking, you tripped over a stray thought and fell into one of the nightmare pits. You were once more in the small room that Zalgo had kept you in for two years. This time, however, there was a monitor on one of the walls. A bit stiffly, you walked over to it and studied the dial. A single touch sent colors flashing across the screen. Within moments, you recognized the forest that used to be your home. Zalgo was in the screen, facing the rest of the Creepypastas. Slenderman was standing protectively in front of them, his arms and tentacles holding up strong despite the fact that blood was dripping from wounds all over his body. You watched with horror as Zalgo charged, crying out in agony.

Suddenly, a warm feeling gripped your hand, as if someone was holding it between two of their own. The warmth spread throughout the room, causing the monitor to go to static before revealing all of your old friends smiling at you through the screen. The room, which you recalled as dark and terrifying, was now full of warmth. As you focused on the feeling of the hands upon your own, you suddenly heard voices. The voices of two of your closest - and first - friends, Masky and Hoodie.

They were talking about cheesecake.

You latched onto the sound of their voices, trying to pull yourself through the fuzz. A single line of white shot through the fuzz, latching onto the wrist where the warmth was coming from. Without a second thought, you start climbing the string. Your limbs got heavier and heavier with each pull up, but you could feel the end. If you tried hard enough, you could finally get out of your subconscious. As you neared the top of the string, the voices stopped. You could hear the quiet, near non-existent, sound of Hoodie's steps as he left.

With one final pull, your vision went black and you could feel your whole body again. The warmth that had saved you was still clutching tightly to you, and it took a moment for you to realize that it was someone's hand. The size took out a lot of people since it wasn't large like Slender and his brother's, nor small like BEN's. If Hoodie had left, that meant that Masky was holding your hand. Had you somehow shown that you'd been having a nightmare? Was he comforting you?

You'd always really like Masky and Hoodie. They were your first friends in the woods, and they always stuck by your side. Sure, Masky was only doing it at first because he'd been ordered to, but he was great when he warmed up to you. Hoodie was usually too nervous to ask you questions or really play with you since he was afraid of hurting you emotionally or physically, but Masky had no problem. He often gave you piggyback rides around the mansion and through the forest. You'd never admit it, but he was your favorite.

With that thought in mind - and being sick of brung trapped within  _your_  mind - you forced your eyes to open. The fairly dark lights in the room were too much for you to handle at first, so your eyes snapped shut and you let out a pained groan. The sound of eating halted, and the warmth gripped your hand a little harder.

"(y/n)?" you heard Masky ask, his voice quiet. "Please wake up," he said under his breath, voice cracking.

You tried opening your eyes again, wanting nothing more than to see a friendly face - even if that face was actually a mask. You managed to keep them open this time, though you were wincing and had to blink a lot before opening them fully. Masky's head was turned in your direction, his eyes likely scanning over your face to see if you were really waking up. One of his hands was gripping yours a little too tightly while the other was suspended in the air, a fork held limply in its grasp.

"(y/n)," he mumbled, more a statement than a question.

"Masky," you croaked out, managing a smile.

The fork fell from his grip, slamming into the cheesecake and sending it to the floor. You were a bit confused when he didn't seem to care in the slightest. Your mind refocused on him as he pulled his white mask off, setting it on the bedside table. He ran his now free hand through his chocolate brown hair, revealing his glistening blue eyes to you. Was he crying? As you contemplated this, his other hand joined the one clutching yours. Both pulled your hand closer to him as he buried his face next to it. His shoulders started shaking, but he made no sounds.

A box fell to the ground by the door leading to Zalgo's old - you assumed, since if he were alive Masky and Hoodie would not be here - office. Hoodie stood there, hands still raised as if he were holding the box. After staring at you for a second he jolted back. "My cheesecake!" he called kneeling down to pick up the box and make sure the contents were alright.

"Glad to know what your priorities are," you croaked out with a grin. Masky's hands tightened around your own at your words. The edges of your lips turned up. "Not that I'm offended. I think I've always known that nothing is more important than cheesecake."

Hoodie managed a sheepish laugh, walking over. He went to set down the box before realizing he almost set it down on a familiar white mask. "M-Masky? The oth-thers w-will be com-ming so-oon. Y-you should p-put your mask-k back o-on."

A soft hum a disapproval sounded from where Masky's face was buried into the bed.

"I don't think he'll be putting it back on," you managed, fairly amused. Once the box had joined the mask on the table, you asked, "do you think I could get some water?"

Hoodie was about to move when Masky shot up, rushing out of the room. He returned seconds later with a glass of water, making sure to give it to your other hand before gripping the one he had earlier again and returning to his previous position. Both you and Hoodie laughed at his reaction to your request, though you squeezed his hands in a silent thank you. From the brief glimpse you'd gotten of his face, his sky blue eyes had been rimmed with red. And, if the way his shoulder were still shaking were any indication, he was  _still_  crying.

[Child?] a surprised voice projected into your mind, drawing your and Hoodie's attention back to the door. Slenderman was standing in the doorway, the other Creepypastas behind him having gone silent at the sound of his voice.

Without much ceremony, everyone rushed past your father figure and surrounded your bed. They seemed to be ignoring Masky for the time being, though if that was because of courtesy or simply worry for you, you couldn't tell. They all started talking at once, making you try to recede into the blankets and pillows. Masky's grip on your hand tightened, giving you the courage to set the glass of water to the side and raise it to make them stop.

"Can you please wait a second and answer of question of mine first?"

Most of them looked a little put out, but Splendorman happily called out, "of course! Anything!"

Your hand tightened, making Masky tense a little. "Is he dead?"

"Is who dead?" Jeff asked, playing with the knife in his pocket.

"Lord Zalgo," you said so quietly that a few of them didn't hear it. Masky certainly did, if the way his grip tightened to painful levels were any indication.

"Dead as a door nail," called a voice from the door. Jane walked in, your old friends parting so she could walk up to the bed. "He'd have to be considering you shoved that knife straight through his skull."

Everyone tensed at her words, including you. "I did  _what_?!"

"Why are you questioning that?" BEN asked, grinning at your confusion.

Your face fell. "I don't remember anything after catching on fire."

"He lit you on fire?" EJ asked, looking confused. "I didn't see any burn marks."

"Oh, well, uh," you rubbed the back of your neck sheepishly, "I caught me on fire."

Everyone stared at you blankly as they processed your words. They watched you with curiosity, wondering what the hell you meant by what you had said.

"You wh-what?" Hoodie muttered, stepping back a little.

"One of my new skills," you decided on, not really wanting to explain to all of them that you absorbed the life force of whatever you killed.

Slenderman cleared his throat, a fairly useless act all things considered. [Perhaps we should go so that you may rest, child. Now that we know you have awoken, our minds have been out at ease. I shall open up a portal so that we may leave without drawing attention.]

"Good," Jane muttered. "We've had a hard enough time keeping the others away from here."

As Slenderman created the portal and started ushering the others through, Masky lifted his head just enough so that his voice could be heard. "Sir?"

The two left in the room, Hoodie and Slenderman, turned to him in confusion. [What is it?]

"Permission to stay by (y/n)'s side until she recovers?"

Hoodie looked a little anxious about being separated from his friend, but Slender just hummed. [Granted. Please keep my updated.]

Masky gave a small grunt of approval, burying his head into the bed once more.

Slenderman just chuckled lightly, pushing Hoodie through the portal. [Heal quickly, child. We look forward to seeing you within the forest again.]

Once the portal shut, Jane made a gagging noise. "Gross. A little overboard on the affection, don't ya think?" she grumbled, sighing loudly. "Anyway, now that you're up, I'm gonna go let Clockwork know. You'll have to attend a few meetings and sign some things, but that can wait until tomorrow." Jane turned to leave, pausing at the door's threshold. "Thanks for offing the old bastard," she called over her shoulder before slamming the door shut.

A sigh of relief left your lips. So much stimulation after you'd just woken up could  _not_ be a good thing. At the very least, it didn't feel good. You heard a soft mumble in the sheets, drawing your attention to Masky. "Sorry? I couldn't quite catch that."

Masky lifted his head so that his puffy, sky blue eyes were staring into your (e/c) ones. "I'm so sorry."

"Huh?"

"If Hoodie and I hadn't been talking so close all those years ago, you never would've gone to Zalgo."

"Pfft," you spit out, chuckles escaping your lips. "That's bull and you know it," you finally ground out. "I would have heard about what he said sooner or later. If not from you, than someone else. I would've gone to him sooner or later. In fact, going sooner meant that fewer people suffered."

"You still suffered," Masky mumbled, lowering his head. He clearly wasn't use to this sort of thing. "Jane and Clockwork told us about everything that he did to you." Sky blue eyes suddenly shot up to meet yours. "(y/n), he locked you in a room alone for  _two whole years_! How are you even okay?!"

Any trace of a smile on your face vanished. "Honestly?" you ask, your voice so soft it was barely audible. "I'm not. I locked all of my emotions away and became a machine." A dry humorless laugh escaped your throat. "You saw me and PH. That's how I survived. I didn't  _live,_  Masky. I was just alive. I was surviving, clinging to some dying flame of hope that I'd get to be with you guys again." Your shoulders sagged and, despite the pain, you lifted up your knees so you could bury your face in them. "I never imagined that it could come true."

Masky gripped your hand a little tighter before tugging it hard. You fell to the side, confused, as Masky maneuvered you so that your head was buried in his chest. Both of his arms were wrapped around you, holding you in place as he buried  _his_ head into your neck. His whole body was shaking, as if he were anxious or crying.

You assumed the latter.

"I'm okay now," you mumbled into his chest, sighing softly in contentment. He was really warm. "I don't need to contain my emotions anymore, right?"

"Right."

You stayed like that for so long that you had fallen asleep before Masky had let you go.

~ Time Skip ~

"Welcome back, (y/n)," Masky said, nodding a greeting to Clockwork and grinning at you before standing to help you over to the bed.

"Hey, you," you reply with a smile of your own, sitting tiredly on the edge of the bed.

Clockwork raised an eyebrow at Masky's fussing, as she always did, before turning back to you. "That should do it for the basics. You've sent the sub leaders off and set Jane and myself as the right and left hands, so you're fairly free. We'll still need you to make the big decisions and sign papers."

You groaned loudly in response. "Now I know why Slendy is always in his office."

The other woman laughed before shrugging. "Jane and I will make the preparations for you to head back to the forest mansion. You're mostly better, and I think the forest air will be good for you." She turned on her heel. "You should be able to set out tomorrow."

"Thanks, Clockwork!" you called after her, any response she might have given cut off by the door shutting. You started in surprise when there was suddenly a plate in front of your face. "Huh?"

"Hoodie brought more cheesecake for us," Masky said, lowering the plate to your lap and sitting beside you with a plate of his own. You noticed that he had taken off his mask now that Clockwork was gone. He only ever did it when he was alone with you.

A laugh left your throat. "I never should have shown him Grandpa's famous recipe. I created a monster."

"You're the one that taught him to cook, too," Masky added, laughing. "Too bad he only cooks cheesecake," he said after a bite. "Everything else he cooks is toxic."

"Well, you guys are lucky I can cook." At his incredulous stare, you laughed again. "What? Clockwork taught me. She said it's important if you have to be out and about for a few days when you're on a mission. Besides, I remember everyone else's cooking." You shivered. "EJ nearly killed me with food poisoning once."

Masky just shook his head with a chuckle, continuing to shove cheesecake into his face. Halfway through his slice, he let out an oddly sad sigh and set his plate on the bedside table. You knew that he was trying to be happy and that he was acting like nothing had changed just to help your own mood. He turned to face you, crossing his legs on your bed. You did the same, through you kept eating your own slice and contemplated stealing his.

"Do you really have to lead them?"

You groaned in annoyance, setting your plate to the side. You had seen this conversation coming. In fact, you were surprised it had taken this long. "Yes."

"But you could let Jane or Clockwork do it!"

A sigh escaped your lips. "The next strongest one here is Rake," you respond. "He would kill whoever took charge and take charge himself. Heaven forbid he gets control."

Masky shifted uneasily. No one wanted Rake to take charge. "Is there anything you can do?"

You dug your palms into your eyes, trying to ignore the pain building there from stress. "Masky," you said softly, your voice barely audible. "If I let anyone else take charge, the you guys would be in danger. Leading these guys is nothing compared to keeping you safe."

"Oh come on! Don't play that card!"

"It's true!" you yelled back. "You got hurt a lot when I was little. You were always trying to protect me from anything that could be dangerous in any form! Just let me protect you for once!"

Masky sighed, his face falling. "I didn't mean to yell, (y/n). I'm just worried."

"Don't be," you reply with a noncommittal wave of your hand. "I killed Zalgo, the most powerful creature known to you guys. No one is stupid enough to challenge me."

"I know," Masky muttered. "I worry."

A sigh escaped your lips. "You've always been a worrier."

"I can't help worrying about you," he said under his breath. The words were so quiet that you figured one without demon hearing wouldn't have heard it. The words made a bit of heat rise in your cheeks, though you decided to pretend that you hadn't heard it, for Masky's sake.

~ Time Skip ~

You yawned loudly, letting Masky lead you by the hand through the mansion. A few of the other Creepypastas - BEN, Jeff, and LJ - laughed when they saw him pulling you like that, fingers laced with yours. You didn't care. Masky's hand was warm, and it reminded you of how he'd pulled you from your own mind. A sudden stop made you shake your head clear. Your door was down the hall more, so you couldn't figure out why you had stopped in front of a white door with a black proxy ma-

It was Masky's door.

You turned to him with a silent question.

"You'll be staying here until you're fully healed," he said a bit sheepishly. "It was Slenderman's choice. He said he'd rather someone be nearby if something happens with your stitches or something."

You smiled a little, too exhausted to really reply. Your side was aching, and you hadn't been able to do away with the pain in your back since you'd woken up. Even your wings wouldn't come out.

With your silent approval, Masky opened the door and led you in. His room was, unsurprisingly, clean. The only strange thing was that several of your pillows, plus your blanket, were on his bed, and there was a small set of blankets and pillows on the floor. It didn't take long to figure out what he planned.

"Absolutely not," you said, your determination to get your way giving you strength.

"Huh?" Masky mumbled, setting your bags down at the edge of the bed. "What's wrong?"

"You are  _not_  giving me the bed," you argued, putting your hands on your hips. "This is  _your_  room!"

"And you're healing," Masky responded with a shrug. "Hoodie took a lot of time setting this up for us. Do you want to make us have to redo all of his hard work?"

"That's a low blow," you muttered, relenting and sitting on the bed. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in your brain. "I know!"

Masky turned to you after shutting the door, removing his mask. "Know what?"

"Well just share the bed! It's big enough!"

The change was immediate. Masky's blue eyes widened and his face was overcome with red. You sometimes forgot how expressive he was beneath the mask. "A-a-absolutely not!"

You shrugged. "Either we share this bed or I'm crawling over to my room and sleeping there."

"That's not fair!"

"You weren't being fair earlier," you retort, shifting so you could lean against the pillows. "Besides, I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing that I'd let you sleep on the floor."

~ Time Skip ~

Masky had, unsurprisingly, eventually relented. No one else knew, since Slenderman would no doubt step in and separate the two of you, but that was fine. As it were, the two of you were sleeping with your backs just barely touching.

At least, you  _had_  been sleeping until a nightmare woke you. Your breaths came in ragged gasps, the dream still vivid. You'd been trapped in your subconscious, but still had a view of what your body was doing. Zalgo had forced your demon traits to come out, and you had to watch while your body hunted down your old friends like prey. Despite the crying, your body didn't let you wake up until you had to watch your body rip out Masky's organs.

It was the worst nightmare you'd had yet.

Tears ran down your face, and both shoulders were shaking from silent sobs. Beside you, Masky yawned and sat up, his eyes narrowed in the darkness. Apparently he was a light sleeper. A  _very_  light sleeper.

"(y/n)?" he mumbled tiredly, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "Something wrong?"

You shook your head, letting your (h/c) hair fall into your face as much as it could. "N-no," you managed, wincing at how shaky your voice sounded.

"Liar," he grumbled, wrapping his arms around your middle and pulling you down.

"Gah!" you called out in surprise as he held you tightly to his chest, spooning you. "M-Masky?"

"I'm right here. Nothing is going to happen to you as long as I'm right here. Now go back to bed."

You'd forgotten how much he hated being woken up. With that thought, you turned around and snuggled into his chest.

It was warm.

~ Time Skip ~

You yawned loudly, trying and failing to stifle it behind your hand. Ignoring the fact that Masky and Hoodie were now staring at you in worry, you grabbed the wooden chair and took it outside. Your side certainly didn't appreciate the motion, but it was mostly healed now. As you put the chair with the other that surrounded the table, Masky and Hoodie pushed you down into it and joined you. Hoodie placed a box - cheesecake, of course - in the middle of the table and got everyone a particularly large slice.

A little while in, Hoodie coughed into his hand and raised his head to look at you and Masky. "S-Slenderman was talk-king about moving (y-y/n) back to her r-room now that she's b-better."

Your hand froze part way to your mouth, and you noticed Masky tense. "Oh," you mumbled, shifting uneasily.

"It's not like we can say no to him," Masky commented a bit sourly.

Hoodie looked between the two of you, before clearing his throat. "(y-y/n) c-could," he said. "Y-your choice," he added, turning to you.

You felt a bit of red rise in your cheeks as you lowered your eyes to stare at your lap. "I don't want to be alone," you said under your breath. With that, you stood up and walked back to the cottage to finish setting up your office.

_Third POV_

Masky and Hoodie stared after you as you left.

"She has really bad nightmares if I'm not hugging her," Masky commented.

"W-what?"

The masked man froze, cursing inwardly. He'd forgotten that Hoodie didn't know. With a small sigh, he told his best friend everything. Hoodie seemed incredibly amused.

"Y-you've been sh-sharing a bed-d?"

"Yes. She guilt tripped me into it! Besides, even if she's gotten better at hiding it, her nightmares are still really bad," Masky added, trying to change the subject. "I hate the idea of her having to suffer through that alone."

Hoodie nodded, finishing up his slice of cheesecake and moving on to the remains of yours. "A-re you g-gonna tell her?" he asked.

"Tell her what?"

"You l-like her," the other proxy replied, his voice full of amusement.

Masky turned his head to the side, refusing to meet his friend's gaze. "Yeah. I do."

"A-and she wants-s to st-tay with you."

The, no doubt blushing, proxy stood up suddenly, his chair nearly falling over. "What's her favorite flower?" he asked, taking out his phone.

_Your POV_

You finished up setting up your desk, glad that the redness in your face was starting to vanish. Just as you finished, Masky burst into the cottage and grabbed your hand. His other was behind his back, hiding something.

"Come somewhere with me."

You couldn't tell whether that was a question or order, but you nodded anyway. Seemingly relieved by your action, Masky dragged you over to the portal you had just formed and activated it. You were vaguely aware of his order to close your eyes and did so. The feeling of going through a portal was as weird as always, but you were more focused on the wonderful scent wafting through the air and the soft breeze on your cheeks.

"Masky?" you asked as he let go and started moving around near your feet.

"Don't open your eyes!" The shifting continued, and was soon followed by the crinkling of plastic. "Okay," came the familiar voice, followed by a hand grabbing your shoulder. "Open your eyes, (y/n)," he said, voice filled with love when he said your name.

The sight before you made a gasp rise from your lips. A field of your favorite flowers was spread out before you. The sky had a few fluffy white clouds that were lazily floating by. The sun was making everything shimmer brightly.

It was so beautiful.

"Oh my..."

Masky's hand lifted and he tapped your shoulder, making you turn to face him. His mask was on the ground by his feet, leaving his face for you to see. Sky blue eyes were staring at your, as if entranced. Soft pink was dusted across his pale cheeks. His smile was small, but conveyed all the love he was feeling. In one hand, he was holding out a bouquet of your favorite flowers.

"I, uh," Masky started, moving his gaze for a moment as he scratched his neck sheepishly. He took a deep breath and looked at you resolutely. "Please go out with me!"

You blinked in surprise, unsure of how to respond. Never once had you imagined that he would be so traditional. It was adorable in a dorky way. And all of it was just  _so_  amazing. Had he planned this?

"(y/n)?"

You shook out of your thoughts, noting the nervousness on his face. Whoops. Forgot to answer.

"Of course, you idiot," you mumbled, practically jumping forward as you hugged him tightly.

Some rustling sounded behind you, and moments later you felt something light rest upon your head. You back up, looking confused as you raised a hand and felt your hair. Sitting atop your head was what could only be a flower crown made of your favorite flowers.

Masky grinned down at you. "Perfect," he breathed out. "My princess. Now you have a crown, so everyone can know." His smile widened. "I'll get you a better one someday."

"Idiot," you mumbled, trying to hold back the tears of happiness.

A laugh escaped his throat. "But now I'm your idiot," he replied, the pink dusting worsening.

"This mean you're not opposed to me staying in your room?"

"Looking forward to it actually." When you blushed wildly, he laughed. "I really do love you. What am I going to do with you?"

"I love you too, Masky," you mumbled, burying your face in his chest again.

"Tim," he said suddenly. "Please call me Tim."

Blushing like an idiot, you moved back so your glistening (e/c) orbs could look into his sky blue ones. "Then I love you too, Tim."

His eyes widened imperceptibly before he lowered his head to yours, placing his lips against yours in a soft kiss. It was barely there, but it filled you with happiness nonetheless.

~ Time Skip ~

When you two got back, practically the whole mansion was waiting for you. Hoodie was looking very guilty at Slenderman's side, and nearly everyone else looked incredibly amused. A few of them started laughing at the sight of the two of you holding hands, and that laughter only worsened at the sight of your flower bouquet and crown.

"H-hey, guys. S-S-Slenderman asked where y-you were," Hoodie stuttered out.

[He told me where you went,] Slenderman said, raising a camera. [I got a good shot.]

Your face went bright red and you turned your head to the side, avoiding everyone's gazes. You felt Masky step in front of you a little, as if he were protecting you. Whether he was doing it consciously or not didn't change that it was really sweet. With most of them whistling and laughing their heads off - plus a 'get some' from an amused Offenderman - Masky dragged you back to the mansion and into his room, away from prying eyes. Once there, he just hugged you close and sighed contentedly.

"My princess," he murmured into your hair, tightening his grip.

His warmth was something that always calmed you down, and you looked forward to always having it nearby.


	10. Last Chapter: Hoodie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your romantic ending with Hoodie!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a few liberties with this one to keep things interesting! Hope you enjoy!

_Hoodie's POV_

I've never been very good at expressing myself. I mean, it's probably ingrained into my brain. My stuttering turns people off. It always has and probably always will. People don't want to hear me speak. That's one of the reasons I like Masky so much; he's always patient with me. He listens and helps people understand me. (y/n) did too. Even as a little girl, she always listened until I finished talking. She never once made fun of my stuttering. I used to think that it was because her grandfather, Mr. Neil, stuttered just like me. In reality, Mr. Neil sounded just like Mr. Slenderman.

All sorts of intimidating.

But as if she could sense that I needed someone -  _anyone_  - to understand, she stuck to my side like glue. I never once argued. (y/n) was so cute and nice. She always wanted to know  _my_  opinion.  _Cared_  about what  _I_  wanted.

She was a kid at the time, but that didn't stop me from protecting her. I never once imagined that when I saw her again, I'd fall so hard. (y/n) had grown up so much! She'd gotten much taller, though I still had her by an inch or two. Her eyes sparkled a beautiful shade of (e/c). And her hair was just so wonderful.

I was speechless.

And then she had fought for us. She fought with all of her might, nearly losing herself in the process. (y/n) was - no,  _is_  - so brave. So much braver that I could ever hope to be, anyway. I wish I could be nearly as brave as she is. I can't even tell Masky some things without stuttering so hard he can barely understand what I'm saying.

And then she left.

And it was  _my_  fault.

I'd  _wanted_  to stop talking about what Zalgo had said. I  _really_  did! I was just so busy trying to make Masky happy that I'd forgotten to worry about myself a little too. Maybe it was some kind of divine providence, now that I think about it. (y/n) got taken away from us because I couldn't - as Jeff often told me to - "grow a pair".

Gods. Jane had told Masky, Mr. Slenderman, and I what Zalgo had done to her. Clockwork even filled in the blanks that her friend didn't know about. (y/n) was locked away in a small concrete room with a single exit that was nestled on the ceiling. That exit was opened once a day (sometimes once every  _few_  days) by Zalgo himself to drop food in. (y/n) had no interaction with anyone else that entire time, and Zalgo never said a word to her. She was left by herself in a room barely wide enough to stretch out in.

Jane and Clockwork admitted to hearing screaming the first few weeks. By the time she was let out, (y/n) had become an emotionless killing machine. All of her feelings had been locked away, and she'd joined with her inner demon. Jane had said that (y/n) didn't even Clockwork the first few weeks. Her skin was so sensitive - not to mention pale - that Zalgo would place his hand on her arm and hold in there as she cried in pain.

But she never screamed. She just silently cried and say there, accepting her punishment. As time went on, she even took everything with a straight face. Pain had stopped bothering her.

How much did she have to suffer to make her completely immune to the pain?!

(y/n) suddenly moving snapped me out of my thoughts, her beautiful face scrunched up as a whimper of pain left her throat. She was having another one of her nightmares. It was the third day of her comatose state, the tenth nightmare today, and the thirty-second all together.

I reached out and placed a hand on her head, rubbing it in the most comforting manner I could manage. Her whimpering quieted a little, making a small smile appear on my face. I'd long since done away with my mask. Since most of the Creepypastas had returned to the mansion for safety's sake, it was mine and Masky's job to watch her. Whenever Masky was away, which was often since he'd figured out my real feelings, I did away with my mask. I liked being able to see (y/n). And I mean  _see_  her. Not just look at her through a mask.

(y/n) finally calmed down the rest of the way. Her face relaxed and returned to its serene state. She was much more beautiful this way. It certainly helped that whenever she was calm and my hand was rubbing her head - like now - she got the cutest little smile on her face. It was adorable, and it reminded me of how much I love her.

I couldn't wait for her to wake up.

_Your POV_

Everything was fuzzy. For the most part, it felt like you were sleeping. No time passed between the nightmares and occasional dream, just like it did during actual sleep. The only problem was that you never woke up. Not once did you open you eyes and fine yourself in a real situation. Not once were you in real life.

It was really disorienting, actually.

Strangely enough, your nightmares always differed from one to the other while your dreams were pretty much the same each time. You would find yourself back at the mansion, sitting on the back porch beside Hoodie. Oddly enough, he usually just sat there and told you stories of when you were  a kid. He was always wearing his mask, but you could tell that he was grinning beneath it. Still, you could never talk. It didn't bother you too much. You liked hearing his voice. His stuttering had never bothered you.

You found it endearing.

Once more, you found yourself on the back porch of the Creepypasta forest mansion, Hoodie at your side. This time, however, his hand was rubbing your head comfortingly. The usually bright sky was filled with oranges and pinks, signifying that the sun was setting. Your dreams had never been this late in the day. As a child, you'd always sat with Hoodie to chat after lunch. Never this late in the day.

"Remember when w-we first me?" he suddenly said, face turned towards the darkening sky.

You nodded, though he didn't seem to notice.

"Mr. Slenderman i-introduced all of-f us to you at the l-lake. Y-you were al-always s-so nice to me." A sigh escaped his lips. "P-please just wake up."

His last sentence sent pain spiraling through your head. Your dream world shifted. Where you had once been leaning against the porch outside, you were now in a plush bed within a darkly lit room. Hoodie's mask and hood alternated between him wearing them and being completely off. You were blinking a mile a minute, and, each time you reopened your eyes, a new scene was before you.

A groan of pain left your lips.

For the first time, Hoodie's head shot to look in your direction. "(y-y-y/n)?" he gasped out.

His voice seemed to ground you somewhat, and you found yourself in the reality with the soft bed. A fairly familiar man stared at you intently, his brown orbs filling with tears. It took a moment of unrestrained panic to realize that the messy brown hair and soft brown eyes belonged to  _Hoodie._  You'd only ever seen him with his face uncovered once before now.

"Hoodie?" you croaked out, voice cracking from not being used. Was this the real reality? It  _had_ to be, right?

It took a few seconds for you to realize that Hoodie had started crying. Tears had begun spilling from his brown - and also very attractive, your brain decided to realize at this moment - eyes like rivers. With no ceremony, he openly started bawling like a newborn baby, clutching to you like you might disappear if he didn't.

Remembering your strange half-hallucination from earlier, you raised a hand and rubbing the top of his head as soothingly as you could manage. His crying calmed somewhat at your ministrations, but persisted. Clearing your throat, you began singing a song your grandfather used to help you sleep as a child.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine," you started, feeling your abilities help your voice so it came out clearly. "You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you." You felt your cheeks heat up a little bit at that particular line, but chose to ignore it. Now was  _not_  the time. "Please don't take my sunshine away."

A strangled sob escaped the man's throat. "I should be singing that to you!"

You merely smiled softly, starting the song over. Neither of you noticed that Masky had been standing in the doorway since you'd woken up.

~ Time Skip ~

"I'm fine," you argued, swinging your legs over the side of the bed and wincing at the resulting pain.

Hoodie tilted his head to the side, clearly giving you a look beneath your new mask. Masky and Hoodie were well known for being Slenderman's proxies. Because of this, Clockwork had given them both disguises to utilize during their stay. Hoodie used his more since he escorted you to all of your meetings.

Hoodie's disguise consisted of a (f/c) sweatshirt and a (f/c) mask to match. The idea was that he would match you, since you had a sweatshirt of the same color. He was supposed to look like  _your_  proxy.

And it worked, though you had admitted on more than one occasion that you hated it. You  _hated_  people thinking that he was beneath you.

"Stop staring at each other lovingly," Masky said from the door to the bathroom.

Your face went bright red as you turned to glare at the other proxy. He wore a (f/c) suit jacket with a matching tie. His usual mask had been swapped out for a (f/c) one with your symbol on the left cheek. Your symbol, the symbol that would be marked into any proxies you made for yourself, was a pentagram surrounded by a pair of demon wings. It was a lot more in depth than Slenderman's.

"Oh,  _ha ha_ ," you ground out as sarcastically as possible. "Very funny, Masky."

"I thought so," he answered, clearly grinning beneath his mask. "You ready to go to your meeting? I'd like to get out of this outfit as soon as possible."

"I-it's n-not that b-bad," Hoodie argued, adjusting his sweatshirt.

"You're only saying that because you're not wearing a freaking monkey suit," Masky countered.

You rolled your eyes. "If you hate it  _that_  much, than you could stay here. We won't be long."

"Slenderman ordered  _both_  of us to keep an eye on you."

A sigh escaped your lips as you stood, promptly falling against Hoodie as your legs gave out.

"H-hop on m-my b-back," Hoodie managed. "If you p-push yourself t-too hard, i-it'll g-get worse."

"Fine," you grumbled, letting Masky help you up onto Hoodie back.

"What kind of proxies would we be if we didn't help you?" Masky asked, purposefully moving out of your reach.

"Jerk," you shot out, sticking your tongue out at him.

Leaning his head to he could talk to you, Hoodie cut in, "I'll make you some cheesecake when we get back, okay?"

~ Time Skip ~

"We'll still come to get papers and such signed," Clockwork explained while your group waited for Slenderman to show up. "Otherwise, please focus on healing. The sooner you heal, the sooner this whole process becomes that much more bearable."

"Don't worry, Clockwork," you respond with what you hope is a reassuring smile. "I doubt that these two hawks would allow anything to happen to me."

"As if we could," Masky muttered under his breath. "Slendy would murder us."

Before you could say anything in response, a  _crack_  sounded throughout the room. Slenderman stepped through the resulting portal, tensing a little at the sight before him. [What are you two wearing?]

It took a moment for to realize that, in case someone had wandered in, Masky and Hoodie were still dressed as your proxies.

"Disguises," Clockwork answered for you when she realized how flustered you were. "It kept the others from recognizing them as yours."

[I see,] Slenderman replied with a nod, understanding the situation and accepting it within moments. [Shell we be going, then?]

"Gladly," Masky answered, adjusting his tie before heading towards the portal. "I can't wait to get to get out of this thing."

As he disappeared, Hoodie stood and moved all of your bags to one arm before offering the other to you. You accepted gesture, grinning widely at the fact that it felt like you were being escorted to a ball of some sort. You gave one last smile to Clockwork before heading through the portal, Slenderman at your heels.

The moment you arrived, you took a deep breath. The air around you was fresh and nostalgic, nothing like the sulfur filled air of the demon mansion now under your control. It smelt of nature, lake, and a little bit of human blood.

It smelled like home.

Slenderman closed the portal behind him, gesturing for you to follow as he started towards the mansion. [I believe that now is a good time to inform you that you will not be staying in your room.]

You stumbled in surprise, Hoodie catching and righting you. "What?" you muttered once you were upright again.

[Among other things, you are still recovering. It would be irresponsible of us to leave you alone while you heal,] he explained calmly. [Besides,] he added after a moment of pause, sounding a little exasperated, [my younger brother Trenderman has taken the opportunity to redesign your room with the help of your brother, so no one is allowed to enter.]

"So where am I staying?" you finally ask with a bit of a sigh.

[Hoodie's room,] he answered simply. Ignoring you as you prepared to argue, he continued, [I've rescinded Masky's order to constantly watch you, but Hoodie will continue to be your guardian and aide while you recover. This is why I chose him.]

Any argument you had been preparing died on your lips as you reluctantly accepted the circumstances. Besides, if you had to share a room with anyone, you were glad that it was Hoodie.

~ Time Skip ~

It had been a couple of weeks since you'd moved into Hoodie's room. Ever since the first night, at his insistence since you refused any other option, you'd shared the bed. You slept back-to-back every night, but always woke up to your back pressed to his surprisingly warm chest and his arms coiled tightly around your waist.

You sort of liked having him cuddle you like that.

Regardless, Hoodie had been acting strangely all morning, and you intended to get to the bottom of his odd behavior. Setting your new sketchbook - a present from Hoodie so you'd have something to do - to the side with a huff, you said, "alright, Hoodie. Spill it."

"Sp-spill what?" he asked, not looking up from whatever he was working on at his desk.

"Why have you been acting funny?" you questioned, swinging your legs over the edge of the bed and kicking them back and forth as a bit of an anxious tick.

Hoodie visibly tensed, brown eyes shooting to your (e/c) ones before looking anywhere  _but_  you. "Th-that obvious?" he sighed out, looking a little upset.

You nodded.

Another sigh escaped him, and he pulled his knees up into the chair so he could hug them. "Y-your room is r-ready."

A grimace overtook your face. "Oh," you muttered, allowing a sigh of your own to pass your lips. "I'm guessing you want me out of your room, then?"

"No!" Hoodie shouted, nearly falling over himself in an attempt to get out of his chair. "Not at all!" Once the words were out of his mouth, a bright red overtook his face and he looked away in embarrassment.

Your own gaze shifted to the window on the opposite side of the room as you rubbed your neck a bit sheepishly. "Is it alright if I stay?" you asked, voice barely audible. "I feel the safest and happiest when I'm with you."

Since you weren't looking at him, you missed the ridiculously bright smile that over took Hoodie's expression as he said, "of course you can stay."

~ Time Skip ~

A yawn escaped your lips as you perched on the rooftop. A pair of wings stretched out behind you, healed from the assault of Zalgo's life force. While originally being a pair of black, leathery wings, your father's life force had darkened them to be even darker than the night, and the leathery texture had changed to feathers.

Currently, you had flown from the forest to take a break from everyone worrying about you. Besides, you had spent all day setting up your office. Some relaxation was needed!

The scent of blood wafting up from below you caught your attention. It was definitely human in nature, though you couldn't sense any Creepypastas nearby. Raising a curious eyebrow, you hopped from your perch, flinging out your wings at the last minute to enjoy the free fall. Once closer to the ground, you glided around until finding an open door, where the smell was even stronger. Your wings righted you as you landed before it, stepping in through the opening and studying your surroundings.

The most prominent thing about the house was the three dead bodies laying in the middle of the floor. There was a mother, father, and a young child that couldn't have been more than two. The toddler had clearly had her head bashed in, while the mother and father had been cut to death with a chainsaw. Within the mother's hand was a blunt object. Before the bodies, turning slowly to look at you, was a young boy, covered head to toe in blood. There was a chainsaw at his feet.

"Want to tell me what happened?" you asked as calm as you could, using your killer training to keep from freaking out. As you waited for him to speak, you flapped your wings to get some air flow in hopes of making the pungent smell of blood start to dissipate.

"Are you an angel of death?" he questioned instead of answering you, tilting his head to the side.

"You could say that," you answer.

The boy nodded, accepting you as this 'angel of death'. Whatever that meant. "My dad hit my mom. She hit my baby sister and killer her. They argued about how to dispose of her, not even thinking about the fact they'd murdered her." His eyes seemed almost dead. "So I killed them."

You nodded, walking over to get a closer look at the mess. His story made sense, though how he managed to overpower both of his parents with a chainsaw when he looked to be no older than seven was beyond you. "You realize that you're going to jail, right? This is manslaughter."

"I know."

A sigh escaped you. Poor thing was just trying to avenge his baby sister. A sudden warmth enveloped your dominant hand, and you quickly realized what it meant. Looks like you were breaking a promise you'd made to yourself when you discovered your symbol.

"Want to come with me instead?" you asked, holding out your hand.

"Huh?" the kid hummed, turning to you in confusion. "Why?"

"I could always use an extra hand here and there," you explained, shifting a little nervously. "Besides, it will keep you out of jail. What do you say?"

The boy was about to shake your hand when he asked, "does this make you my new mom?"

You blinked a few times, honestly surprised by the question. "Do you want it to?"

"Yes."

"Then sure, kid. I'll be your new mom."

"Leo," he said, gripping your hand tight. "My name is Leo."

You watched with thinly veiled interest as your proxy symbol burned across his face, the pentagram centered on his right eye and the wings extending above. A grin brightened your face.

"Welcome aboard, kid. I'll teach you all about your new job later, okay?" He nodded and your smile widened in response. "Cool! Grab your chainsaw, Leo! We're going for a flight!"

~ Time Skip ~

Hoodie waved from the porch as you landed, Leo hiding behind you and burying his face into the feathers of your wings. Your roommate walked forward, shifting his mask so that you could see his smile.

"H-hey, (y/n)," he stuttered. "It's getting l-late. I was w-worried."

"Sorry," you reply with a Cheshire grin. "I ran into someone."

"W-who?"

Smiling sheepishly, you pushed Leo in front of you. Hoodie immediately fixed his mask, head tilting in confusion.

"Meet Leo!"

"Hi," the boy said calmly. His face was blank as he waved with the hand that wasn't holding onto the chainsaw.

Hoodie turned his head to you, whole body tense. "H-hey, L-Leo." After a pause, he added, "w-who's L-Leo?"

"A long story," you respond. "But right now he's going to bed in my old room."

~ Time Skip ~

You collapsed onto the bed in Hoodie's room, physically and mentally exhausted. Hoodie was in the connected bathroom, getting ready for the night. He always let you get ready first - even if you were late, like tonight - which was why you were currently splayed across the bed. The door to the bathroom creaked open, and Hoodie stepped out noiselessly, his brown hair dripping with water.

"Y-you okay?" he asked curiously, raising a towel to try and dry his hair off.

"I think so," you answer, yawning. "Just really tired. I wasn't expecting to come across a kid that killed his parents to avenge his baby sister."

Hoodie nodded, tossing his towel into a laundry basket before sitting beside you. "I-is that w-why you made h-him your p-proxy?"

"Yeah," you sighed out, groaning in annoyance. "His life would have sucked either way."

"H-he called you m-mom when you tucked him in."

"He's seven," came your immediate response as you sat up, turning to look at him. "Is something wrong, Hoodie?"

He shook his head, shifting a little nervously. "No, but would you like to come out for lunch tomorrow? Leo can come."

"Sure."

~ Time Skip ~

A small smile graced your lips as you watched Hoodie play tag with Leo. At first, Leo had really wanted to play with you, but your injury wouldn't be able to handle that much activity. Not to mention that flying with him the day before had worsened it a bit. Regardless, you had actually been pretty surprised when they bonded so quickly, not even starting with the fact that Hoodie offered to play in the first place. Leo already loved him like a father.

That thought sent red hot flames to your cheeks considering that you were now Leo's mother.

"(y-y/n)?" asked a familiar voice.

You shook your head clear and looked around. Leo was chasing some butterflies by the lake side and Hoodie was looking down at you, a confused expression on his face.

He'd taken off his mask when you'd all arrived.

"Sorry," you said with a bright, honest smile. "I guess I was daydreaming. What's up?"

"I b-baked a-a ch-cheesecake," he repeated, stuttering a little more so than usual. "C-can y-you g-grab it-t?"

You nod happily, leaning over to the picnic basket Hoodie had prepared and pulling out a carefully wrapped box. Not a bit concerned that you were starting with dessert, you grabbed some plates and forks. Once everything was set, you opened the box.

The sight before you made your breath catch in your throat.

Hoodie had baked your favorite type of cheesecake, but what had caught the most of your attention were the words scrawled across the top in Hoodie's -  _Brian's_  - careful calligraphy.

_'Please stay by my side forever, (y/n). ~ Brian'_

There was a soft clearing of a throat from behind you. "W-w-what d-do y-you s-say?" he asked, stuttering the worst he had in weeks.

Setting the cake gently to the side, you shot to your feet and wrapped your arms around him. "Of course,  _Brian._ "

His arms circled around your waist, a sigh of relief escaping his lips as he gave you a soft kiss on the forehead. "Thank goodness," he murmured into your hair.

You guys stayed like that until a small voice asked, "does this mean I get a dad and cake all in one day?"

Brian's face went bright red as he launched away from you, stuttering and refusing to look at either you or Leo. Trying not to laugh at his reaction, you placed a calming hand on your new boyfriend's shoulder to calm him before kneeling before your adopted son and proxy.

"That's right, Leo. Do you mind?"

The boy grinned brightly. "I have a mom and a dad! I like this family!" He wrapped an arm around each of your legs, holding you tightly in a hug.

As you and Brian hugged him back, you felt a warmth blossom in your chest. You could get used to this. Having a nice, loving family.

And who knows, maybe you'll have kids that you've actually given birth to in the future.


	11. Last Chapter: BEN Drowned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your romantic ending with BEN Drowned!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ask and ye shall receive!

_Your POV_

Your inner sanctum was a freaking mess.

There was fuzz and cobwebs everywhere, not to mention that a bunch of the doors constantly got stuck. Some of them were even locked! In your own brain! Whenever you cleaned up cobwebs and left the room, they reappeared at some point while you were gone. It was getting ridiculous.

You'd long since given up trying to clean the forest cabin that was your inner sanctum.

It wouldn't have been so bad if you could go outside, but the door was locked. Even the windows couldn't be smashed. You'd tried. Something was wrong. You were aware of the fight with Zalgo, but nothing past entering the arena. You assumed that you must have blacked out, but how long had you been in your safe space?

A sigh escaped your throat as you plopped down before your sketchbook. Nothing you drew here would make it to the real world, but it was a relaxing activity none then less. As you moved to grab one of your drawing pencils, a soft warmth came over you. Again? This had happened a few times already, and you had long since figured out that it was the cause of something on the outside. It bothered you. What was the warmth exactly?

Feeling a strange twinge in your chest, you closed your eyes and grabbed the pencil. Perhaps you knew while not knowing. It was a strange concept, but you were willing to try anything at this point. Your hand began moving almost on its own accord, and a sigh of relief escaped your lips. This was perfect.

Upon opening your eyes, a gasp of surprise sounded. A rough sketch of your favorite gaming buddy, BEN Drowned, stared back at you. Was BEN the cause of the warmth? Why would he be?

Around you, the cabin groaned. Your head shot up, terror latching onto you as you realized that the entire building seemed to be caving in. What kind of inner sanctum was this?! A bookshelf across the room tumbled over, smashing the coffee table. A beam across the room snapped, a fairly large section of it flying forward and smashing into your forehead. Dizziness overtook you, and when you came to again, your entire body felt like lead. Opening your eyes was ridiculously painful, so it took at least seven or eight tries to keep them open.

You were in Zalgo's room. On his bed.

And BEN was currently curled up like a cat next to you.

As your brain cleared its own cobwebs, it occurred to you that this must have been what the warmth was. And if BEN were here, then you must have won the battle. That was a comforting thought, at least. Somehow, someway, you'd managed to fight back against Zalgo and kill him. You were free of his tyranny!

A soft snort and the sudden shifting of the body beside you drew your attention to him. His eyes were scrunched up, and his hands gripped tightly onto the blanket covering you. It took a moment for you to shift to an uncomfortable sitting position - ignoring the bandages that covered you in favor of comforting the elf beside you. One of your hands lifted before brushing his hat out of the way and lightly petting his hair. He settled within seconds, head subconsciously pushing against your hand like he was a cat.

A few moments later, he yawned loudly and forced his eyes open. He really was a cat. Both black and red orbs narrowed a little at you, clearly confused. A sudden gasp escaped his throat and he launched himself into your lap, wrapping both arms around your middle and curling into a small ball.

"(y/n)!" he cried out, crying blood red tears that were no doubt staining white shirt you were currently wearing.

"Sorry I've been asleep for so long," you hummed quietly, continuing to run your hand through his hair.

His arms tightened. "I thought that you weren't going to wake up," he mumbled into your stomach.

You scoffed lightly. "As if I could leave you behind. I know how much the others suck at video games." You could feel his shoulders shake a little with laughter.

[Young one?] came a voice inside your head.

You lifted your eyes to the main doorway, spotting Trenderman and Offenderman. "Uncle Trendy! Uncle 'Fendy!"

Both of them ducked a little to move through the doorway and reach your bed. "It's good to see you awake," Offenderman said with a bright grin and holding out a rose.

You glared at him in suspicion. "I'm old enough to understand your story now," you tell him.

Trenderman plucked the rose from his brother's grip. [As if we would let him regardless.]

"It was actually just a gift," Offenderman argued, frowning at his slightly younger brother.

"She's awake!" an excited voice called from the doorway. The owner of the voice ran in, bells jingling as he did so. Splendorman slid to a stop at the foot of the bed, his grin wide. "It's been much too long, my adorable little niece!"

A small smile tugged at your lips. "I'm glad to see you too, Uncle Splendy."

[We should tell brother,] Trenderman cut in. [He was very worried.] His head turned to you, and he seemed oddly annoyed. [And I shall find you some new clothes.]

Should have known.

"But Offendy picked those out!" Splendorman argued.

That explains why the shirt was so form fitting.

"And she's too skinny for something like that right now," a voice from the doorway added. As she walked in, green eye scanning over you, she added, "no offense, Lady (y/n)."

Despite the fact that Spendy hadn't seemed to mind her presence and that Trender actually seemed to like her outfit, both tensed at the mention of your title.

"None taken," you reply, thinking about how, even before the battle, your ribs had almost been sticking out. It was unhealthy, honestly, but you'd never really had the inclination to regain the weight after your imprisonment. "What's up, Clock?"

"Not much. I know that Sir Slenderman wants you to recover at the mansion, so I'll need you to come with me for a little while," she explained. "Can you stand?"

You frown, testing your limbs. It was super painful, but it wasn't the worst you'd been through. You could manage, and you told Clockwork as much.

At this, Splendorman frowned. "Now, now, we should try to keep you out of pain! I have balloons!"

"I'll be fine, Uncle Splendy. It's not that bad, and I'll be back before you know it."

As you prepared to move, Trenderman stepped forward and pried BEN off of you, holding the whining elf in his tentacles while you escaped with the help of Clockwork.

"Let's play games when you're back!" BEN yelled after you.

You paused in the doorway, smiling brightly at the young Hylian. "I would love to."

~ Time Skip ~

Surprisingly, BEN and the others weren't in the room when you returned. Instead, Slenderman stood there, what you assumed to be your bags piled on the bed. A change of clothes rested on the bedside table, the fact that everything matched suggesting that your Uncle Trendy had picked them out for you. As you walked in, all of the tension present in Slenderman's shoulders vanished.

[My child,] he said in relief.

You ran towards him, falling into his warm chest - and briefly noting that he must have been kneeling - when your legs gave out. "Dad!"

Tentacles and arms grabbed you tightly as he lifted you into the air. [I was very worried about you, child. You were in bad shape.]

"So I gathered," you said with a laugh, thinking about the bandages that covered your body.

Slenderman set you down a bit reluctantly. [Go change, my child. I... do not want to wait longer to bring you home.]

Another laugh bubbled up from your throat. "Okay, okay," you replied, grabbing the clothes and moving into the bathroom.

The first thing you noticed was your reflection in the mirror. Your skin was deathly pale, and you soon realized that your teeth hadn't gone back to their regular, dull state. Even if you focused, they wouldn't return. It was a bit disconcerting, actually. Upon the removal of your shirt, you realized that the bandages on your arms and neck went down to your waist. On top of that, taking off your pants revealed that your legs were covered in bandages too. With a deep breath, you grabbed the clothes Trendy picked out for you and slipped them on. You didn't want to think about what was under the bandages.

Once ready, you stepped out. The outfit consisted of a white blouse that was ruffled a bit at the top. He'd given you a black vest with intricate white patterns strewn across it. The patterns seemed hand stitched, so you assumed that he'd done it himself. A knee-length skirt that flared out joined the outfit, along with the black boots Jane had given you. In the stack of clothing, you'd found the rose bracelet. He must of fixed it for you.

Slenderman turned towards you, visibly surprised at your appearance.

"Not a word," you grumbled, gesturing towards the skirt and blouse. It didn't seem that Trendy had considered your bandages.

Slenderman nodded slowly, seeming a bit conflicted. [As you wish. Are you prepared to leave?]

"I think so," you respond, moving to grab your bags.

Just as Slenderman grabbed them for you, someone in the doorway coughed to get your attention.

"Puppet?"

Puppeteer grinned brightly at you, moving into the room. "I heard that you were leaving, demon girl."

You winced. "Do you really have to call me that?"

"It's a good nickname," he argued. "Anyway, here. This is from Candy, Painter, and I."

Giving him a suspicious look, you grabbed the offered item. A smile immediately took over your face and you slipped it onto your free wrist. The gift was a charm bracelet with charms representing the few friends you'd had here.

A paintbrush for Bloody Painter, a marionette for Puppeteer, a balloon dog for Candy Pop, a gear for Clockwork, and a white mask for Jane.

It was heartwarming.

"Thanks, Puppet. I'll be back to visit, okay?"

"I'd expect no less,  _Lady_  (y/n)."

"That sounds like an insult coming from you."

Puppeteer laughed loudly, waving at you as he escaped through the exit.

"What a jerk."

Slenderman lightly grabbed your arm, directing you to the portal. [One you seem  _fond_ of.]

You blinked a few times in confusion at his tone, not figuring out what was wrong until after you'd stepped through the portal. "Absolutely not, dad! Puppet just helped me at the beginning! He isn't the one I like!"

The exact moment Slenderman tensed was the exact moment you realized what you'd done wrong.

[And who is it that you do like?]

The doors to the mansion bursting open saved you from a response for the time being. A lot of your old friends came out, as well as your uncles.

They all froze when they saw you, though Trenderman was the first to speak.

[You'd look great at any other time.]

You rolled your eyes. "I don't even like this kind of thing."

BEN pushed to the front of the group and grabbed your hand, moving to support you. "You promised to play games with me!"

"Then let's play. It's been much too long."

~ Time Skip ~

Despite everything, you were still pretty good at the video games you used to play with BEN. You even kicked his butt at Diddy Kong Racing, though you suspected that he may have let you win all three times.

As you neared the end of another track, you noticed that BEN's character had suddenly drifted off the track, smashing directly into a canyon wall. A glance to the side revealed that he was leaning to the side, Nintendo 64 controller under one of his hands. He shifted a little in his sleep, falling over.

Well, at least he was already in bed since that's where you'd been playing.

A yawn escaped your own throat, so you set both controllers to the side and turned off the TV using the remote. You considered yelling for your uncles or dad to bring you to your room, but the rooms were soundproof and that would wake BEN up. In the end, you slipped the blanket out from under the both of you and curled up beside BEN.

He was surprisingly warm.

~ Time Skip ~

You were rudely awoken the next morning by the sound of BEN slamming into the ground. You shifted toward the end of the bed and looked over the edge, noting the red-faced and shocked man staring up at you.

"W-why were w-we s-sleeping t-together?!"

Heat rose into your cheeks at his wording. "You fell asleep and I couldn't get back to my room on my own," you explain. "Though there are more blankets here than I remember. Dad must have dropped by."

BEN's eyes widened. "He's going to kill me."

You shrugged, struggling to your feet. "By the way, I won that last race."

BEN shot up. "That's not fair! I fell asleep!"

"Like you weren't letting me win anyway." Silence. "I knew it. Mind if I use your bathroom?"

He shook his head, moving over to his dresser. You had the courtesy not to make it worse and mention that he refused to let you go in the middle of the night when you'd tried to use the restroom.

Common courtesy and all.

In the bathroom, you found a pair of clothes along with a note from Trender saying that he promised not to tell Slendy about you sleeping in the same bed as BEN. You were eternally grateful. Partially for the clothes that would cover your bandages and partially for the fact that your father figure didn't have to find out.

Then again, if Slendy had found you, you probably would have had a much different awakening.

Once you were dressed, you moved outside and - glad that BEN was completely dressed - let him help you to the dining hall.

~ Time Skip ~

A few weeks later, EJ decided that you were ready for some physical therapy. Initially, you were really excited about it since you were sick of spending all day in BEN's bed playing games until you fell asleep. You enjoyed hanging out with BEN of course, but you were more annoyed with the fact that it was practically impossible to get anywhere without falling on your face.

You'd tried.

Jeff had laughed at you while your face was pressed into the hallway's cool wood.

Regardless, your excitement diminished somewhat when EJ and your brother had told you that the best way to regain your strength would be to go swimming. BEN hadn't been happy, either.

That brought you to where you were now, sitting on the edge of the forest lake. Trenderman had practically forced you into a fairly fashionable two piece suit that felt a bit like you wearing a t-shirt and shorts. All of your bandages had been removed, revealing something a bit horrifying on your back. Your wings, which had apparently been still swirling with Zalgo's energy when wrapped, were simply a pair of wing skeletons. You couldn't get them to vanish, but something strange did happen. You had been mourning the loss of your wings when BEN came to check up on you. Upon seeing him and hearing your voice, the remaining ink upon your back joined your wings and made dark green feathers with red tips appear on the wings. It happened whenever he was near you now. No one knew why.

Regardless, the scars upon your wrists were mostly faded by now, as were the marks on your legs and back caused by Zalgo's torture. Your side, where he had stabbed through, was still incredibly sore. But then again, the water therapy was supposed to help your side, as well as increase the strength in your legs and arms, which had atrophied a little.

Sighing softly, you pushed off the rock you'd been sitting on and fell into the water. Staying afloat was pretty easy, if a bit tiring. At the other side of the water, the others were goofing off. A few of them occasionally glanced at you to make sure you were safe. From the tree line, you could see BEN hanging from a branch and keeping an eye on you. Everyone had been shocked when he said he'd come, but you figured he only did so to watch you. He refused to get near the water.

You would too if you'd drowned.

Everything was going swimmingly. Your demon powers were amplifying the natural healing powers of the water, and you were actually starting to enjoy it. At least, you had been enjoying it until one of your legs suddenly locked, making it useless. You felt your body plunge underneath the water before you could even think of screaming. The water, which had always been comforting and healing, now felt terrifying and cold.

And it was suffocating you.

_Third POV_

BEN glanced over at the larger group of pastas when someone yelled particularly loud. When he turned his gaze back to the water, feeling better when he could see you, his heart froze.

_Where were you?_

He dropped from the tree, eyes flashing to and fro, trying to locate you among the rippling water. He  _had_  to find you. He couldn't let you drown.

His eyes caught a few bubbles suddenly pop to the surface some ways from the shore, right where he had last seen you. Feeling his chest tighten at the idea of you being as terrified as he had been, BEN took off at a run towards the water. He heard a few shouts of confusion and worry from the others just before he dived in.

Unsurprisingly, they were all staring in shock. It didn't occur to them what the hell had happened until someone yelled out your name in horror. No one could move. They didn't know here you were in the water.

The first to move was Slenderman, moving to the shoreline you had been resting on to help BEN drag you to shore. BEN pulled himself up afterwards, staring down at you in horror as he screamed your name. Surprisingly enough, Offenderman was the one to make a move, slamming a tentacle onto your chest and making you cough up the water in your lungs.

_Your POV_

You completely understood BEN's hatred of water now. What you didn't understand was how he'd managed to dive in and drag you to the surface. He was  _terrified_ of water.

Tiredly, you forced your eyes open, glancing around you at the Pastas staring at you in horror. You coughed up some more water, wincing at the pain. Closest to you was BEN, water dripping from his hair and clothes stuck tightly to his body. Black eyes with blood red pupils were eying you with concern.

"Look at that," you managed. "You're dripping with good looks," you croaked out, smiling lightly when almost everyone else started laughing.

BEN didn't laugh.

[You are both shaking,] Slenderman pointed out. [BEN? You did an amazing job saving (y/n).]

"Yeah. How did you even steel yourself to do that?" Masky asked, tilting his head to the side in curiosity.

BEN frowned, eyes not leaving you. "I didn't think about it."

Understanding dawned on everyone at his line, and it became clear to everyone - except you, since you were starting to go into shock - that he  _loved you_. Slenderman carefully picked the both of you up in his tentacles, heading back to the mansion via teleport. He set a large amount of plush towels, no doubt from his personal collection, on BEN's bed before setting both of you down and dropping more towels beside you.

[I shall go make some soup,] he decided, heading towards the kitchen.

BEN started to dry his hair, turning to look at you in confusion when you didn't move. "(y/n)?" he asked, still getting over his own shock.

You barely moved, your body starting to shake uncontrollably.

Seeing your expression, BEN grabbed a different towel and started to dry your hair. "C'mon, (y/n). Talk to me."

"I almost died," you choked out, tears starting to flow down your face.

BEN immediately draped the towel between the both of your heads, holding you close. "Shh, it's okay. Shh. Deep breaths."

"I was  _scared_. I've never been afraid of death," you continued, thinking back to all of the life or death fights you'd been in. When he didn't respond, you added, "I never want to go swimming again."

A harsh chuckle escaped the elf's throat. "You and me both." After a moment, the tension in his shoulders disappeared and he raised his eyes to yours. It was now that you realized how close the two of you were. "I'm so happy you're okay. I thought that I was going to lose you."

A soft warmth covered your lips before you could respond, warming up your whole body. When he pulled away, his eyes widened and he tossed the towel to the side before jumping back.

"No, no, no! This isn't how I planned it!"

"Planned what?"

BEN turned to you, red faced, before digging around one of his drawers before pulling out a bag. He handed you a small box that had been hidden inside. Opening the bag, you found a 3DS with the same design as the game boy he'd given you for your seventh birthday. However, it felt oddly light. Shaking it around, you heard something clinking inside. Casting a curious glance towards BEN, you flipped the system over and noticed a fake backing. What happened to the battery?

"Open it," BEN urged, whining a little and reminding you of a child.

You carefully pulled open the compartment, revealing a small ring. There were three triangle shaped holes representing the Triforce. Each hole had a gemstone set into it, a sapphire for wisdom, a ruby for power, and an emerald for courage.

"I'm Link," BEN said as you studied the ring.

"What?" you mumbled, lifting your gaze to his red face. "No you're not. You're your own person."

BEN took a deep breath. "No, no. I'm Link. And you are my Zelda."

You stared at the elf, face blushing a crimson red when you realized what he meant.

"That's a promise ring," he continued, reaching into his bag and pulling out the actual battery. "Because I want to play video games with you forever." He visibly cringed. "I mean that I want to be with you forever. I think I've always loved you," he added, voice quiet.

You tuned your gaze from BEN to the ring, setting the system to the side and slipping on the ring before standing up and deciding to end his embarrassed rambling. "Well, I always liked the name Zelda."

BEN's eyes shot up, going from your own eyes to the ring now on your finger. "(y/n)," he muttered, frozen for an entire minute before launching forward and tackling you onto the bed. He kissed you again, though this one was a bit more heated than the previous. "I am going to show you how much I love you again and again," he declared.

Well. You were wondering where his usual flirty demeanor had been. Guess you found it.

Part way into BEN's impromptu kissing session, he was ripped from above you, a sharp voice piercing both of your minds, [Benjamin.]

BEN cringed, turning his head to look at the faceless man as he tried to escape the tentacles grip. "O-oh, hey, Slendy! How's it going?"

A small smile tugged at your lips. If this was what feeling like a mischievous child felt like, you could get used to BEN's antics. In fact, you'd happily participate. You truly loved the little Hylian, and at some point you'd make your dad put him down.

But for now, you just wanted to revel in your happiness.

A dad and a mutual love.

Everything was perfect.


End file.
